In “From Homoerotics of Exile to Homopolitics of Diaspora”, Sima Shakhsari discusses the ways in which organizations, governments, and diasporic Iranian queers have used the political position of Iranian queers as a popular way of defending their interventions.

In the words of of Shakhsari, supporting and even celebrating the rights of queers in Iran has become “chic” with the widespread use of the Internet. The media and other organizations focus on Iranian queers as a way of justifying intervention, criticism, and the liberating agenda of Iran. Furthermore, those living in the Iranian diaspora (the world wide community of exiled Iranians and their family) have used the issue of Iranian queers to generate funding and interest in their agendas. However, Shakhsari highlights that only certain kinds of queers appear in the celebratory narratives of Iranian queers.