Educational Media Reviews Online

With homosexuality illegal in most Muslim countries, and some even subject to execution, one would think a documentary about transsexuals in Iran would be predictable and pointless. Surprising and illuminating more aptly describe Inside Out. All three of the transsexuals focused on in the film experience problems and obstacles remarkably similar to those in Western, contemporary, and supposedly tolerant cultures.

Maria is a male to female, pre-op transsexual raising three children. Like many of her Western counterparts, she complains the government will not pay for her surgery. Living as a woman, she has difficulty finding employment to support her children.

Saman/Sarah has had successful hormone therapy, and all the operations necessary to complete his transition to man except the penile implant. When he consults a Muslim cleric about the final surgery, he is told sex change operations are acceptable to Islam, though some believe the surgery is meddling with God's work. Saman's wife tells of how she finally told her parents about him when he was courting her. Surprisingly, her father was more concerned about how Saman was going to support her, rather than his birth gender.

Arash, an 18 year old female to male transsexual, conveys the same misunderstanding that Maria and Saman express; that of feeling different very early on and powerless to do anything about it. Arash admits it is easier for him than his cousin, who was born male but feels she is a woman. Arash is celebrated by his society for his accomplishments as a man, and not discriminated against the way male to female transsexuals are. The surgeon who performs the procedures in Iran explains the medical differences between homosexuality and transsexuality, emphasizing the hatred transsexuals have for their reproductive organs. Inside Out demonstrates that despite societal differences, some of its segments are treated amazingly similar.