Walls can serve a number of purposes: they can provide protection and security, they can delineate and divide, or they can offer privacy and seclusion. Yet when one is taught to build their walls from a young age, they can serve as monuments to isolation and exile. Iranian-American writer and journalist Hooman Majd has said, “For millennia, Iranians have built tall walls around their houses to keep the private and public separate. Iranians are known to have a public face and a private face, a public life and a private life....[it is] understood that the walls, literal and figurative...mustn’t be breached.” As a member of the Iranian-American LGBT community, my walls symbolized a lie.
One’s sexual orientation is an odd trait that is inherently both public and private. Understanding this can be a struggle for many. For me, it was a paradox that I had to confront. I had to combat the ignorance in an otherwise rich and educated culture. My own challenges have inspired me to do all that I can to support others in my community who face their own social barriers.
As a Washington, D.C. intern during my junior year of college, I conducted research for the ______ Group, a firm that provides policy development consulting for a number of clients, including non-governmental organizations. One client that was particularly striking was the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). They were seeking to develop a strategy to combat hostile attitudes towards LGBT individuals in Iran by increasing awareness of those communities. We concluded that the best means of achieving this was to promote a discussion among the diaspora in the United States. This first step, for our culture, would be to dismantle the walls that separated so many people--a task that I enthusiastically accepted.
Upon returning to Southern California, I decided to apply what I had learned in Washington to my student organization: the Iranian Student ____ (____) at ______. My executive role allowed me to promote activist causes. Teaming up with Queer Alliance and our cultural counterparts at ____, we hosted an event that was heavily attended by our community. The Hidden: a Discussion of the Queer Iranian Narrative sought to shed light, through personal accounts, on the adversities faced by queer Iranians both in the United States and Iran. My organization also welcomed the Deputy Director of the Iran Office at the U.S Consulate in Dubai. At our event, she discussed the new visa restrictions for Iranians coming to the U.S., as well as information for asylum seekers. Finally, at annual cultural events, I pushed for greater themes of tolerance and acceptance--topics well received by the community.
My post-graduation move to D.C. was strategic. It allowed me the opportunity to further cultivate my knowledge with access to countless lectures, seminars, debates, and discussions. As an analyst at ___________, my primary task has been to conduct research on behalf of Fannie Mae; examining aspects of economic inequality--specifically the barriers to homeownership for minorities and low income individuals. I have also used this opportunity to connect with and learn from a diverse group of people while still facilitating my goals of bridging the LGBT and Iranian-American communities. One friend I connected with in Washington is a journalist writing about the Iranian-American experience, whose crowdfunded project I circulated through my network. After urging her to devote a portion of it to the struggles of sexual minorities, she asked for my help in contributing to it.
While walls can embody separation, mine--or rather the tearing down of mine--signify my victory over the prevailing sentiments of my community. My liberation has additionally provided me with the empathy for the socially marginalized and those less fortunate. I learned that, though adversities can be overcome alone, they are much more tolerable with support. I know my work is not complete. I have therefore concluded that the most effective path for me to continue my efforts to destroy the walls that segregate our society, would be a law school education. I believe that my unique experiences and intellectual drive prove that I will be an exceptional contribution to _____’s community.
