Social media influencers are asking why BMW in Saudi Arabia, and international brands in general are not changing their famous logos to the colors of the LGBT movement, a rainbow flag to celebrate Pride Month? BMW has changed its international logo to reflect Pride, but the Saudi Arabian version remains unchanged.

It is common for international brands to celebrate and reflect certain holidays and celebrations throughout the year. Local branding is usually left to local marketing companies who handle the brand and its expression in respectiev countries. Should Saudi Arabia go rainbow?

Homosexuals and people who have affairs outside marriage can face death by stoning in Saudi Arabia. It is legal for a man to have more than one wife in Saudi Arabia. They are by law allowed to have up to 4.

Women were only allowed to start driving in 2018.

According to Islamic Shariah law homosexuality is punishable by death. Men in Iran are sentenced to death if they are found engaging in love partnerships or sexual acts with other men. A Palestinian man was beheaded for being gay while seeking asylum in Canada. Canadians encourage people to explore their sexuality choices starting in grade school so it a safe place to live if you seek sexual freedom.

Being gay is not allowed in most Islamic countries. Be careful in countries like Iran, the UAE or Saudi Arabia if you engage in sexual freedom. You can be arrested or worse.

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Footballers in Iran’s professional women’s league are being forced to undergo gender tests to verify that they are “all woman”.

Iran’s football governing body will perform random checks after it was discovered that “several leading players – including four in the national women’s team – were either men who had not completed sex change operations, or were suffering from sexual development disorders.”

Teams must now establish their players’ gender before signing them on, Ahmad Hashemian, head of the Iranian football federation’s medical committee, said in a statement to the state news agency IRNA. Seven players have already had their contracts terminated under the gender test directive.

“If these people can solve their problems through surgery and be in a position to receive the necessary medical qualifications, they will then be able to participate in [women’s] football,” said Hashemian, as reported by Britain’s Telegraph. Those unable to prove female status will be barred from women’s leagues until they complete medical treatment.

Sex change surgery is legal in Iran, in accordance with a religious edict issued by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Football is widely popular among Iranian women, but religious rules ban them from stadiums during male matches. Iran has five athletes performing in the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi, but it’s too soon to tell if they’ll send a women’s football team to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero.

Want to learn more about sex in the Middle East? Read Karin Kloosterman’s thoughtful article on Middle East mores regarding LGBT lifestyles (link here).

Image of Iranian footballers from Al Arabiya News

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