Gay Pakistan - A Complex Society

Contents:

• GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT
• GAY DATG KARACHI
• THERE IS PLENTY OF GAY SEX KARACHI, PAKISTAN
• GAY NIGHTLIFE KARACHI
• GAY KARACHI (KARāCHI DISTRICT, SDH)
• GAY PAKISTAN - A COMPLEX SOCIETY
• GAY LIFE KARACHI
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS KARACHI
• TOP GAY DTATNS: PAKISTAN

GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT

It is a place where gay men om Karachi’s relatively poor lol neighbourhood meet secretly the evengs. 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.

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. Beg transgenr: more acceptable than beg gay.

GAY DATG KARACHI

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. 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.

THERE IS PLENTY OF GAY SEX KARACHI, PAKISTAN

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.

GAY NIGHTLIFE KARACHI

"If you want sex too, 's a gay man's paradise. "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. 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.

GAY KARACHI (KARāCHI DISTRICT, SDH)

" 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. So how do gay women make their liv work?

GAY PAKISTAN - A COMPLEX SOCIETY

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.

GAY LIFE KARACHI

"I thk 's selfish for me to e out and mpaign for gay rights now. 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. 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.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS KARACHI

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.

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.

TOP GAY DTATNS: PAKISTAN

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.