"Beg gay Pakistan, what a miserable and hard life!" | Il Gran Colibrì

Contents:

• GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT
• MY STORY (GAY IN PAKISTAN)
• TOP GAY DTATNS: PAKISTAN
• THERE IS PLENTY OF GAY SEX KARACHI, PAKISTAN
• GAY LIFE PAKISTAN -- REFLECTNS
• GAY PAKISTAN - A COMPLEX SOCIETY
• GAY KARACHI (KARāCHI DISTRICT, SDH)
• GAY NIGHTLIFE KARACHI
• AWARD-WNG PAKISTANI LGBTQ SHORT FILM TAK UNFLCHG LOOK AT GAY LIFE SOUTH ASIA
• OPEN SECRETS - GAY LIFE PAKISTAN
• “BEG GAY PAKISTAN, WHAT A MISERABLE AND HARD LIFE!”
• GAY DATG PAKISTAN
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS KARACHI
• GAY DATG KARACHI

GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT

Pakistan is not the kd of place that most people would associate wh gay liberatn.

But some say the untry is a great place to be gay - even scribg the port cy of Karachi as "a gay man's paradise". Unrground parti, group sex at shr and "marriag of nvenience" to members of the oppose sex are jt some of the surpris that gay Pakistan has to offer. Danyaal, as he's asked to be known, is a 50-somethg bsman who liv an affluent part of Karachi, and his smartphone to anise Karachi's gay party scene.

"The days there are smartphone apps that e GPS to tell you how close you are to another gay person wh an onle profile. There are thoands of gay men onle Pakistan at any one time.

MY STORY (GAY IN PAKISTAN)

"The vatn-only parti are a rare opportuny for gay men to be open about their sexualy. "Gay men will make every effort to stop any vtment a same-sex relatnship bee they know that one day they will have to get married to a woman, " he says. For participants, 's anonymo group kd of behavur is, of urse, not ndoned by Pakistan's relig Pakistanis view homosexualy as sful.

The vast majory of clerics terpret the Qoranic story of Lot as a clear ditn that God nmns homosexual men.

TOP GAY DTATNS: PAKISTAN

The shre is far om the only place Karachi where gay sex is eely is, for example, easy to buy om a malchi walah - a massr who offers massage and "extras" for the equivalent of £5, or $7.

THERE IS PLENTY OF GAY SEX KARACHI, PAKISTAN

" Technilly, homosexual acts are illegal Pakistan. "In almost all s charg will be dropped, Iqbal says, but the boys will be forced to get married by their ocsnally, though, Pakistani parents do rencile themselv to children enterg a long-term gay and Ali are one such uple who have ma thgs work, agast the odds. For many gay men Pakistan, a heterosexual marriage and a life of anonymo gropg is the long-term life n be even more difficult for gay women.

I know some gay guys and maybe we'll do a al so we put money together and they have one portn of the hoe and we'll have another portn. "Fatima, who ntribut to an vatn-only onle gay support group, believ 's only "a matter of time" before Pakistan begs to bate gay rights openly, and people clare their homosexualy wh pri.

"Gay rights Ameri me after women had basic rights. "I thk 's selfish for me to e out and mpaign for gay rights now.

GAY LIFE PAKISTAN -- REFLECTNS

But there will still be private spac where gay Pakistanis n exprs their sexualy of the nam of the ntributors have been changed to protect their n hear more on this story on BBC Rad 4's Crossg Contents, on Thursday 29 Augt at 11:00am or on Assignment on the World Service on the same day. It is a place where gay men om Karachi’s relatively poor lol neighbourhood meet secretly the evengs.

GAY PAKISTAN - A COMPLEX SOCIETY

Hontly, there is no safe space for to speak out about our liv, ” a gay man at Jahangir Park who wished to rema anonymo told Equal Tim.

When asked what would happen if people knew he was gay he replied that he would be physilly attacked and beaten. Thgs are a b different for Karachi’s more affluent lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) populatn, who meet at the equent parti and gathergs the cy’s well-anised, secret unrground scene.

GAY KARACHI (KARāCHI DISTRICT, SDH)

Homosexualy is nsired a taboo nservative Pakistani society and there are laws which, although rarely enforced, renr homosexual acts illegal. That didn’t stop Pakistan om beg named the world lear for Google search of the term “shemale sex”, send for search of “man fuckg man”, and third for “gay sex pics” last year. Statg the se of a gay uple ught by police, Wajid tells Equal Tim that the only way to avoid ser danger is for homosexuals Pakistan to pretend to be transgenr, as this is more socially accepted.

“The Pakistani nstutn do not curb the rights of gays or lbians directly but the re ia of the nstutn, which stat that there should be no law agast the basic prciple of Islam, ni gays and lbians the right of inty, the right to marry and other rights that homosexuals enjoy some other untri of the world. A top female fashn mol told Equal Tim, on the ndn of anonymy, that while there is a b more eedom the creative dtri, gay women particular, still avoid makg their sexual preference public.

“Gay rights are basic human rights; is not somethg out of this world. I am Malik om Pakistan, I am gay and belongs to a nservative Mlim fay I was 14 when I disver that I have no sexual attractn towards girls, my male s mostly asked me about my likens my female s however I always says no and they thked that s bee of shyns.

GAY NIGHTLIFE KARACHI

So, I am not out to them as I am aaid bee if I tell them that I am gay they will lock me to the hoe, take my phone om me and will do my marriage on spot. And send me to Islamic school to get rid of homosexualy. From private rooms and apartments to LGBTQ-iendly hotels, you have the optn to stay the heart of gay districts as well as other neighborhoods the plac you vis.

A loft Soho, a shared room Barcelona or the Castro, a gay-iendly hotel Le Marais or Chelsea, experience misterb&b all gay travel statns! 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.

AWARD-WNG PAKISTANI LGBTQ SHORT FILM TAK UNFLCHG LOOK AT GAY LIFE SOUTH ASIA

We're not entirely nvced, pecially sce homosexual activy there is illegal and punishable by a prison sentence. 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. 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.

OPEN SECRETS - GAY LIFE PAKISTAN

For participants, 's anonymo group spe all this gay sex, life for gay people is still pretty awful Karachi. That's bee gay people, like straight people, crave relatnships. Many of the men engagg gay sex acts, Azhar explas, are married.

At the end of all, everyone gets married to a member of the oppose sex and nothg is spoken about, " a lol told gay relatnships bee an anomaly. " And s led to plots like what's currently gog Cha—gay men and lbians "marryg" each other out of nvenience. "For many gay men Pakistan, a heterosexual marriage and a life of anonymo gropg is the long-term realy, " Azhar wr.

“BEG GAY PAKISTAN, WHAT A MISERABLE AND HARD LIFE!”

That don't entirely sound like paradise to 's Note: We changed the wordg the lead paragraph to make the tentn of the article more clear: that there is plenty of (technilly) illegal gay sex gog on article is om the archive of our partner The Wire. As a gay man nfsg to beg slightly homophobic, Karim nohels seems very fortable wh his inty. “All of are raised to be homophobic, ’ says ‘Karim’ (not his real name), a 28-year-old gay man livg Lahore.

As a gay man nfsg to beg slightly homophobic, he nohels seems very fortable wh his inty.

The prohibn agast homosexualy Pakistan is two-fold. First, the Indian Penal Co of 1860, which Pakistan hered, crimalis homosexualy unr Article 377, which stat:. It is not jt that the penal crimalis homosexualy, however.

GAY DATG PAKISTAN

Classil poetry rri referenc to homoeroticism; monuments and legends bear wns to queer love affairs and homosexual votn; love is celebrated regardls of orientatn. Somehow, I n’t make that timate nnectn or even sually flirt wh non-mascule bodi anymore – the prevailg homophobia impairs me.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS KARACHI

But till then, I feel Pakistan’s homophobic society would not be acceptg of my preferenc – and that may or may not clu my fay. ‘It’s the standard cliché of gay life a closed society, where people don’t want to get ught.

’ Karim tells me he Manjam, a gay datg webse that is popular across the regn. ‘There’s no grand ncept of g out Pakistan, ’ says ‘Fayaz’, a 26-year-old gay man livg Lahore, echog a sentiment shared by many.

’ He rais both eyebrows, shgs slightly and ntu: ‘There’s always the hope that you might change your md and ci you want to get married the tradnal way – the only way – and give up your gay liftyle.

GAY DATG KARACHI

Three native Pakistani men wre about livg si their sexually ambivalent culture where gay men live behd masks and love secret. There is a gay subculture Pakistan but is virtually visible and exists only by word of mouth and furtive suatns– nighttime parks, discrete parti and one’s imagatn or memory.

To be gay, Mlim and Pakistani isn’t one of the bt batns the world. I’m gay, have always been and probably will rema so.

When people, pecially homophobic mal, talk disparaggly of gays or e slurs, I nnot unrstand bee is not a hab I acquired. It was all right then yet today when I am a grown up, handsome man wh a gree and a lot of exposure to different cultur why beg gay is nsired almost a curse?