Inside Gay Pakistan

The BBC reports on gay life in Pakistan:

Pakistan is not the kind of place that most people would associate with gay liberation. But some say the country is a great place to be gay – even describing the port city of Karachi as “a gay man’s paradise”. Underground parties, group sex at shrines and “marriages of convenience” to members of the opposite sex are just some of the surprises that gay Pakistan has to offer. Under its veneer of strict social conformity, the country is bustling with same-sex activity. Danyaal, as he’s asked to be known, is a 50-something businessman who lives in an affluent part of Karachi, and uses his smartphone to organise Karachi’s gay party scene. “One of the first things I did online, maybe 12 years ago, was type in G – A – Y and hit search. Back then I found a group and made contact with 12 people in this city,” he says. “These days there are smartphone apps that use GPS to tell you how close you are to another gay person with an online profile. There are thousands of gay men online in Pakistan at any one time.”

The report goes on to note that almost all gay men in Pakistan marry women in order to please their families. Doesn’t really sound like “paradise.”  (Tipped by JMG readers Eric and Eugene)