I don't want to be Tāhirih

The relations between religion and sexuality have been understudied for a long period of time within German Study of Religion. This is remarkable for two reasons: Firstly, sex and gender are somewhat frequently discussed in almost any other field of research at present; secondly, many religions still have problems to accept homosexuality as a normal and permissible way of life. This is furthermore astonishing for the Bah ' Faith as it is often mentioned as a particularly tolerant and open minded religious community.§§Coming from a profound historical analysis of sexual practices in 19th century Iran and their understanding from a religious point of view Hanna Langer further exemplifies the Bah ' Institutions' attitude towards homosexuality and homosexuals and their standing within the Bah ' Community. The second part of the book focuses on three major aspects related to the experiences of homosexuals: How do homosexuals themselves interpret and understand the core writings? How do they apply this understanding to their personal lives? How do they experience community life within the Bah ' Faith and the Institutions' and believers' approach towards them? Langer's comprehensive analysis of the current situation of homosexual Bah ' s was originally written as a master thesis at the Interfaculty Programme for the Study of Religion at Munich University and has been supervised by Prof Horst Junginger who also contributed a preface for the publication.§§Hanna A. Langer was raised in Dresden and studied Religion, Iranology and Crosscultural Communication at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich.