A Pakistani man who tried to set up the nation's first gay club has been thrown into a mental hospital after religious conservatives claimed he only did so after coming back from the UK.
The individual, who remained anonymous to the Telegraph, submitted an application to open the club in Abbottabad, a conservative northern metropolis that is home to around 240 million people.
The man said, in an application filed to city officials, said the proposed club, which would've balled Lorenzo, would be a 'great convenience and resource for many homosexual, bisexual and even some heterosexual people residing in Abbottabad in particular, and in other parts of the country in general.'
However, homosexual activity is illegal in Pakistan and is punishable by up to two years in jail. Furthermore, being publicly homosexual might be challenging in societies with strong conservative cultural norms. So much so that on May 9, the guy was sent to the Sarhad hospital in Peshawar for mental treatment.
Both lawmakers and locals ridiculed him greatly for his application.
The leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) party, a conservative religious group in the region, claimed that the applicant tried to set up the club had recently returned from a visit to the UK.
One local MP from the far-Right Pakistan Awami Tehreek party said he would've doused the club with petrol and set it alight, while the leader of the party, Naseer Khan Nazir, said there would be 'very severe consequences' if the club was allowed to go up.
Unidentified friends of his said they were afraid for his safety and had been prevented from seeing him or finding out any information about him.
'Everyone is afraid that talking about it will put them in danger,' one said.
'I do not know about his well-being for many days' they said, adding that they had 'tried to find out about him a couple of times but without success'.
Before he was sent to the mental hospital, he told the paper: 'I talk about human rights and I want everyone's human rights to be defended.'
'I have started the struggle for the rights of the most neglected community in Pakistan and I will raise my voice in every forum,' he said.
'If the authorities refuse, then I will approach the court and I hope that like the Indian court, the Pakistani court will rule in favour of gay people.'
His application states that there would've been 'no gay (or non-gay) sex (other than kissing)' at the club.
The application added: 'A clearly visible notice on the wall would warn: no sex on premises. This would mean that no legal constraints (even obsolete ones like [anti-sodomy] PPC section 377) would be flouted on the premises.'
I sincerely hope this man doesn't hold dual citizenship with Britain because then we will end up being dragged into another diplomatic row.
What did this man expect? Pakistan is a Muslim country and there are no freedoms in Pakistan, especially for people of the LGBT community. I grant you, it's not right, but when in Rome and all that! And he was very brave trying to change things, but some things just can't be changed.
I'm surprised that there haven't been any UK protests on this issue, but then most UK protestors are Muslim, and this man will be lucky if this doesn't cost him his life, but he's the very definition of being an optimist, and if we're not careful Pakistani law will be the law of the UK within a few generations.
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