Description
This paper aims to challenge the dominant epistemic privilege rooted in masculine cis-hetero assumptions within decolonial studies and visions of decolonial futurity, with a specific focus on post-revolutionary Iran and the recent Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Discussions about decolonial utopias in feminist postcolonial and left circles often exclude queer imagination, a failure frequently rooted in deliberate omission. From the 1979 Iranian Revolution to the contemporary feminist and queer uprising in Iran, these transformative moments are marked by a lack of intersectional praxis and imagination. The liberation of all marginalized identities has been postponed or ignored in the reimagining of post-revolutionary nations.
Centering queer voices from the global south, this paper will explore the irreversible and violent consequences of excluding queer and trans perspectives in the reimagining of decolonial utopias, with an emphasis on the ongoing struggles in Iran. Through the experiences of two Iranian femme activists, the paper traces queer hope generationally in post-revolutionary Iran. This narrative, woven through a multiplicity of revolutions and utopian visions, situates gender and sexuality within the context of post-revolutionary state formations, anti-imperial aspirations, and the vast landscape of our collective imagination.
