Returng emigre Mawaan Rizwan disvers unexpected facets of gay life the untry. TV review by Tom Birchenough
Contents:
- HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?, BBC THREE
- HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?
- THERE IS PLENTY OF GAY SEX KARACHI, PAKISTAN
- HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN? BBC3 - TV REVIEW: THE ONLY OFFENSIVE THG HERE WAS THE IMAM'S OUTDATED VIEWS
- TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’
- SO… HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?
- TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’
HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?, BBC THREE
* gay in pakistan bbc *
As a YouTube ic Mawaan Rizwan is clearly at ease on screen, and right at the begng of How Gay Is Pakistan? He was tellg about g out as gay to his fay last year: was “the worst news ever for Pakistani parents”.
The well-off exist a world which homosexualy has an accepted, if mostly unspoken place – a scene staed by social media – wh clubs taken over by gay men and women for dancg that, Rizwan remd more than once, felt like Soho. I know we keep beg told how small BBC Three’s dience is, but you mt wonr how long that anonymy is gog to the other extreme, the labourer muni of Lahore, the ncept of gayns hardly existed: stead was MSM – men sleepg wh men – not bee of sexual preference, but bee they uldn’t afford women prostut. Their dream was to be married South Ai by an Imam who apparently endors homosexual marriage wh Islam.
Rizwan vised a number of very articulate profsnals, om lawyers – Pakistan’s anti-gay legislatn is a direct hand-over om the legal system of the Brish Empire – to health-workers.
HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?
<p>Returng for a vis as an openly gay man, Mawaan Rizwan asks what is like to be gay Pakistan and fds a stgglg but excg and diverse unrgro * gay in pakistan bbc *
“For ’s normal, by the way, ” was the tellg ment om the ’s vis to a revered Imam for advice was revealg, though ls so for the medice that he was prcribed to “cure” his homosexualy. What wasn’t touched on here – for that, ’s worth listeng to Mobeen Azhar’s 2013 Rad Four Crossg Contents programme Insi Gay Pakistan – was the hypocrisy volved on all onts.
That programme told that the natnal language, Urdu, don’t even have a rpectful, objective word for “homosexualy”. Language How Gay Is Pakistan? ) Where Azhar disvered how gay life often ntu wh the fabric of marriage, Rizwan spent more time wh the Hijra transgenr-transsexual muny, quasi-fay uns that adopt and to some extent une those vilified by society: each group has s own gu, and if Shahzadi was to proceed wh stratn, would be agast the advice of hers (closg tl revealed that she had chosen that path).
“Not as bad as I expected, ” wasn’t exactly Rizwan’s ncln – and ’s probably not a slogan which the Tourist Board is gog to adopt – but he me away nvced that Pakistan, as a society, was actually que gay, as well as very glad that he was g back to life London’s Zone Two. “Big, brave steps” may be beg taken the gay muny there, but what a difficult, long journey li ahead.
THERE IS PLENTY OF GAY SEX KARACHI, PAKISTAN
Pakistan is one of the most homophobic untri the world. Yet, a BBC vtigatn reveals that Karachi is actually home to a lot of gay sex. * gay in pakistan bbc *
SummaryReturng for a vis as an openly gay man, Mawaan Rizwan asks what is like to be gay Pakistan and fds a stgglg but excg and diverse unrground LGBTQ muny.
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HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN? BBC3 - TV REVIEW: THE ONLY OFFENSIVE THG HERE WAS THE IMAM'S OUTDATED VIEWS
Pakistan is one of the most homophobic untri the world. Yet, a BBC vtigatn reveals that Karachi is actually home to a lot of gay sex. Yet gay sex is apparently prevalent the untry, which is home to 183 ln people, some 97% of whom are the BBC's Mobeen Azhar reports a fascatg vtigatn, the batn of the prevalence of gay mobile apps like Grdr and Scff, pl the on of arranged marriage, has ma the Pakistani cy of Karachi — the natn's biggt cy, at nearly 24 ln people — a hotbed of gay sex, even if actually matag a gay liftyle is still credibly difficult.
"[S]ome say the untry is a great place to be gay — even scribg the port cy of Karachi as 'a gay man's paradise, " Azhar wr. Pakistan as a gay paradise?
We're not entirely nvced, pecially sce homosexual activy there is illegal and punishable by a prison sentence.
TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’
Gay rights don't exist there, beg openly gay is still looked down upon, gay relatnships are hard to e by, and Karachi pretty much fails on every metric of gay life except for one: man-on-man sex. Karachi is home to a lot of any other untry the world (spe Iran's claims to the ntrary), Pakistan has a homosexual populatn. Earlier this summer, for example, the Pew Rearch Center found that Pakistan was simultaneoly one of the most tolerant untri the world for gay people while at the same time beg one of the world lears searchg for gay porn.
Smartphone technology has also helped gay men Pakistan fd relief om society's strictur.
"The days there are smartphone apps that e GPS to tell you how close you are to another gay person wh an onle profile.
SO… HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?
There are thoands of gay men onle Pakistan at any one time, " Danyaal, a 50-year-old bsman, told the BBC. He's right: a simple search on Scff, a gay datg mobile app turned up plenty of men (whose fac we've obscured) Karachi lookg to nnect:But isn't all technologil cisg, eher.
TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’
For participants, 's anonymo group spe all this gay sex, life for gay people is still pretty awful Karachi.