<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
Contents:
- IS PAKISTAN A GAY MAN’S PARADISE?
- GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT
- GAY DATG PAKISTAN
- 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
- HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?
- MY STORY (GAY IN PAKISTAN)
- “BEG GAY PAKISTAN, WHAT A MISERABLE AND HARD LIFE!”
- 'HAPPY AND GAY' PAKISTAN?
- GAY DATG LAHORE
IS PAKISTAN A GAY MAN’S PARADISE?
Pakistan is not the kd of place that most people would associate wh gay liberatn - but some say Pakistan is a great place to be a gay man. * gay pakistan *
“Homosexualy is very mon Pakistan, ” Saan tells me as the Mlim ll to prayer rgs out along the streets of Islamabad. This is bee Pakistan is a homosocial society, as Saan puts , meang that men n only go out public or socialize wh men, women wh women. Some gay men scribe Pakistan as a paradise, where sex is always available, pecially wh men who intify as heterosexual.
Pakistani law clus provisns agast “obsceny” and havg “rnal knowledge agast the orr of nature, ” makg homosexual acts illegal, although the provisns are rarely enforced as the charg are difficult to prove.
Rather, is discrimatn, police blackmail and btaly, and their own fai that are the greatt threat to gay men. A serial killer began targetg gay men through one of the gay social workg s, killg three men between March and April 2014.
GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT
Disver Gay datg near you and Pakistan. Fd a lol nnectn today! * gay pakistan *
Once, when he took his dghter to hospal, they ially refed to treat her, sayg, “He’s a gay wh his dghter so go away. In Pakistan’s patriarchal society, if a man brgs dishonour to his fay by beg openly gay, he uld stroy his sisters’ chanc of a suable marriage.
The bt thg for gay men, Ali believ, is to be pletely anonymo Pakistan, as they’re ls likely to be nsired a relig threat.
GAY DATG PAKISTAN
How Gay Is Pakistan?: Directed by Masood Khan. Wh Mawaan Rizwan. In Pakistan the punishment for beg gay is up to ten years prison or the ath penalty. Still the untry has a varied and growg gay muny, where some fight for equal rights, fiance of threats of vlence." data-id="ma * gay pakistan *
Bee beg gay is anthetil to beg a good Mlim many people’s ey, many nsir the prence of gay men a threat to society. This is heightened for some by the perceptn that many of the more liberal, ted, middle- and upper- class gay men are also agnostic or atheist.
“It would be a massacre Pakistan — open war, ” says G, when asked about the possibily of changg the laws to crimalize homosexual acts.
5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
* gay pakistan *
It would make gay men visible and therefore a ncrete threat the ey of the untry’s relig powers, he says.
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.
HOW GAY IS PAKISTAN?
Ever sce s creatn, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been fluenced by var Islamic iologi g om different ernments. Furthermore, he untry’s pennce hered many Brish Era laws cludg Article 377: the most petned agast gay men. Bee the entire society is heavily fluenced by relign, homosexualy remas a taboo. All the major sects * gay pakistan *
"The days there are smartphone apps that e GPS to tell you how close you are to another gay person wh an onle profile. "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. "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.
MY STORY (GAY IN PAKISTAN)
Pakistan's relig laws punish homosexualy wh stong, but you n fd gay members of the ele Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. And you n fd homosexual relatnships villag across the untry, though ral areas they sometim volve force and pedophilia. But a untry where most of the entertag is done people's hom, most gay Pakistanis are terrified of practicg openly or speakg about their sexualy publicly. They are fortable discsg among their iends, behd closed doors. There is ltle public acceptance of the notn that someone n love a member of the same sex. * gay pakistan *
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.
In an attempt to help terme the worst plac for gay travelers, the duo created the 2019 LGBTQ+ Danger Inx, rankg the world’s most dangero—and saft—untri for gay travelers.
“BEG GAY PAKISTAN, WHAT A MISERABLE AND HARD LIFE!”
The uple also updated the list wh the bt and worst plac for gay travelers 2021, which n be viewed here. The journalists looked at the top 150 most-vised untri the world by the number of g tourists, then ranked them g eight factors, cludg laws agast gay relatnships, legal protectn agast discrimatn and more.
Toppg the LGBTQ+ Danger Inx is Nigeria, which is nsired the worst untry for vlence agast gay travelers. There, people n be put prison for up to 14 years jt for beg gay, and some stat even have the ath penalty unr Sharia law. In almost all s, the laws outlawg nsensual gay sex were put to place unr Brish le and were left place followg pennce.
“In 2018, India managed to annul Sectn 377, a Brish lonial-era law prohibg ‘unnatural acts, ’ orr to legalize nsensual gay sex, ” says Fergson, who pots out that ancient Indian lerature such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana have many referenc to LGBTQ+ hero cludg transgenr warrrs and two queens who ma love orr for one queen to get pregnant wh an heir for their kgdom. “Long story short, this pots to the fact that was likely the Brish fluence that largely led to Indian homophobia the first place, ” she says.
'HAPPY AND GAY' PAKISTAN?
“We found this to be a b ironic as the reason for many of the harsh homophobic laws untri throughout the world is largely leftover om laws created durg Brish le, ” says Fergson. Has ma great progrs wh legalized same-sex marriage, worker protectns and crimalizatn of homophobic vlence. “One reason for that is that there is a great al of variatn gay rights pendg on the state you’re , ” says Fergson.
GAY DATG LAHORE
You n see the entire rankg of the 150 untri here and also get 37 safety Swen, the saft untry the world for gay. Prime Mister Jt T promoted clivy by marchg Toronto’s Pri Para and beme the untry’s first Prime Mister to vis a gay bar.