LGBT rights in Pakistan
Encyclopedia
Traditional religious norms and cultural beliefs view homosexuality and cross-dressing negatively and this homophobic societal attitude contributes to intolerant social behavior as well as refusal of the government, or most political groups
within Pakistan, to support LGBT-rights. The current criminal ban on homosexuality comes from a British colonial era law, which has been on the books since 1860, with subsequent laws further restricting LGBT-rights under the guise of protecting public morality.
Pakistan does not have civil rights
laws to prohibit discrimination or harassment on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation
and there is no legal recognition of same-sex marriage or civil union
s in Pakistan.
The LGBT community in Pakistan has not formally begun to campaign for LGBT-rights, but there is growing tolerance for social gatherings of gay men in the cities and the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled in favor of the civil rights of transsexual citizens.
with a possible prison sentence and has other provisions that impact the human rights of LGBT Pakistanis, under the guise of protecting public morality and order. Alongside these Anglo-Saxon based laws are the religious courts and Islamic laws, where the maximum punishment for sodomy is death. Yet, the more likely situation for gay and bisexual men is sporadic police blackmail, harassment, fines and jail sentences http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/1860/actXLVof1860.html.
or gender identity
. It does contain certain provisions that may impact the constitutional rights of LGBT Pakistani citizens http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/.
does exist within certain parts of rural Pakistan, which is often treated as being the same as homosexuality, thus furthering homophobia within Pakistani society and making it harder to help victims of sexual abuse, because both the abuser and his victim are often treated as the law and society treats gay people.
The World Organization Against Torture (Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture, OMCT) targeted Pakistan conservatives in the tribal areas in 1997 over the recent whipping of two males, an adult and a minor, allegedly caught having sex in a public lavatory. Mohammad Yaman, a mosque worker and Fahimullah, 14, a student were lashed publicly on 1997-05-17 in Bara Bazar in Pakistan's western Khyber Agency
, an area administered by local Afridi tribesmen. It was reported that Fahimullah was paid PKR 100 (USD 1.15) for the act. The adult was whipped 75 times while the minor received 32 lashes.
A Kahuta
based Pakistani cleric stated on 2007-12-31 that every homosexual person should be killed to stop this sudden growth towards sexual awareness suggesting either beheading or stoning the involved.
There have been several incidents of pederasty
reported as being made by clerics towards young boys at religious schools or madrasah
s.
It is often difficult for victims of sexual abuse to get justice in these situations, because the public does not want to believe that a cleric could engage in pederastry and the victims, young boys who are forced to be the receptive partner in anal intercourse are often perceived as being gay and are thus subjected to social hostility and even legal sanctions. While the LGBT community is not ready to tackle such abuse and prejudices, a growing number of gay and bisexual men are creating social networks
Metropolitan areas like Lahore
and Karachi
have seen many gay men, mostly of the middle and upper classes, enjoying themselves at parties aimed at proclaiming their gay pride
.
These usually involve large numbers of men dancing together in huge isolated rooms modelled into a discothèque environment and making out
. In 2008 an incident that caught the eyes of passers-by was a group of cross-dressed men dancing to Bollywood
tunes on a rooftop on the day of Basant. Yet, despite examples of tolerance, prejudice and discrimination still exists.
In 2003, however, three Pakistani men were arrested in the city of Lahore when one of their relatives turned them in for engaging in homosexuality at a private party. Their punishment is not known.
In 2005, a man named Liaquat Ali, 42, from Khyber
region bordering Afghanistan
married a fellow tribesman Markeen, 16, with the usual pomp and show associated with tribal weddings. Upon hearing of the man's religious infidelity, a tribal council told the pair to leave the area or face death.
Where men are now opening up to sexualities, lesbianism has lesser exposure in the country and one hears almost rarely of events that matter to women indulging in homosexual relationships. One such court case, decided in 2008, displayed the same disapproving attitude towards a lesbian relationship as it would have towards two men involved.
In most South Asia
n nations, a concept of third gender
prevails where members of the same are referred to as neither man or a woman. Pakistan is no different and has a vibrant culture of hijras. They are sometimes referred to as transsexuals in English language publications. Like transgender people in many countries they are sometimes the subjects of ridicule, abuse, and violence. That said they enjoy a certain level of acceptance due to their position in precolonial Desi society. For example they are welcome at weddings where they will dance as entertainment for the men, and are also welcome among the women.
Their presence in society is usually tolerated and are considered blessed in the Pakistani culture. Most hijras are deemed to have been direct cultural descendants of the court eunuchs of the Mughal era
.
Thought to be born with genital dysphoria and afraid that they might curse one their fate,
people listen to their needs, give them alms and invite their presence at various events and functions, e.g., birth of a child, his circumcision
or weddings. This mysteriousness that shrouds their existence has born of the fact that the hijra communities live a very secretive life. In 2004 it was reported that Lahore
alone has 10,000 active transvestites.
People have started accepting acts of sex reassignment surgery
to change their sex as a norm either compelled by gender identity disorder
or just for the sake of it. There are situations where such cases have come into the limelight. A 2008 ruling at Pakistan's Lahore High Court
issued permissions to Naureen, 28, to have a sex change operation, although the decision was applicable only towards people suffering from gender identity disorder.
In 2009, the Pakistan Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of transvestites. The landmark ruling stated that as citizens they were entitled to the equal benefit and protection of the law and called upon the government to take steps to protect transvestites from discrimination and harassment http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/14-sc-orders-equal-benefits-for-transvestites-zj-02
, 28, son of an army colonel gathered courage to appear on Geo TV
's Hum Sub Umeed Se Hain as cross-dressed Benazir Bhutto
. So loved were his performances that he has taken to act to extremes on-air and presents his own talk show where he appears as a drag
ged-up character named Begum Nawazish Ali. Begum would almost always interview influential government ministers, e.g., pro-Jamait-e-Islami former mayor of Karachi, Naimatullah Khan
.
His character self is often compared to Dame Edna Everage
.
and Islamic view. Under the Pakistan Penal Code
(PCC), homosexuality is deemed a crime that is punishable by a prison sentence. With the Islamicisation of Pakistan policies under the rule of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
, Islamic sharia
laws were intervened with the existing laws. A complete compilation of Islamic laws that amended the policies were called the Hudood Ordinance
that stipulated severe punishments for adultery
, fornication
, consuming alcohol and homosexuality. What was excluded however was punishments for actions that involved pederasty, pederasty became confused with other carnal acts.
Under the colonial aspects of law, since 1860, homosexuality was a crime punishable by a sentence of two to 10 years in prison. However, when the Islamic laws were introduced to the system, amendments included primitive forms of punishments like whipping of up to 100 lashes and death by stoning. A homosexual Pakistani may face either secular or Islamic, or in some cases both punishments combined. Although, all of the known recorded cases of these laws being used against LGBT Pakistanis suggest that more common punishment involves police harassment and the imposition of fines and or jail time.
Under section 377 of the PPC, it states:
In the PPC, the provision defining the offence and prescribing the punishment for it is titled unnatural offences where people would argue that while homosexuality is generally an offence under Pakistan's Penal Code (PCC), this particular law does not specifically refer to homosexuality.
government has always shown resistance against the issue of gay rights and never hid its intolerance. A UN vote cast on 2003-04-25, on issues of homosexual human rights was derailed at the last minute by an alliance of five disapproving Muslim countries which included Pakistan. The others being Egypt
, Libya
, Saudi Arabia
and Malaysia.
The countries delayed their votes to stall the process and proposed amendments that were meant to kill the measure deliberately, removing all references to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, rendering the resolution meaningless. The resolution was tabled by Brazil
with support from 19 of the 53 member countries of the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva
. It called on member states to promote and protect the human rights of all persons, regardless of their sexual orientation.
expressions or human rights are alien concepts from the decadent west. Pakistan is one of the few countries retaining penalty of death as punishment for homosexuality and one of the eight countries retaining capital punishment for the same. Others being Mauritania
, Sudan
, Afghanistan
, Iran
, Saudi Arabia and Yemen
. However, the UAE's stance is unclear.
or gender identity
and nor are political parties or organizations in Pakistan publicly supporting any LGBT rights legislation. Sociologists Stephen O. Murray and Badruddin Khan have written that the penal laws themselves are rarely enforced directly, but are used by the police and other private citizens as a form of blackmail.
Pakistan is under the spotlight after the derailment of the UN vote to make a formal statement supporting the human rights of LGBT people. During that same month, the chief minister of Pakistan’s south-eastern state of Sindh, Ali Mohammad Mahar, was publicly outed as being gay and attending private parties in women's clothing, although he was allowed to keep his government job.
. In 2009, the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that the government must take proactive steps to protect transsexuals from harassment and discrimination, although no legislation in the area of gender identity has advanced. 'Third gender' officially protected from discrimination
by the Supreme Court of Pakistan
in 2010.
, Orkut
, blogs and websites.
The blogosphere
so far has been immune to the modern emergence of queer desi
identity. Blogs now highlight stories and issues specific to this marginalised community.
One of the issues that that has opened up public discussion about homosexuality has been effort to combat the spread of AIDS
-HIV
among men who have sex with other men, but may not necessarily identity as being gay or bisexual in orientation. UNAIDS official reports suggest that they are targeting night truck drivers who are known for having sex with other younger men.
Of most concern is the spread of HIV
and AIDS
.
It is believed that the number may have risen to somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000 people,
and possibly as high as 210,000 (as in the UNAIDS Pakistan reports).
Today, a small number of organizations exist in Pakistan to promote greater education about HIV/AIDS, including the Association for People Living With AIDS/HIV In Pakistan, which was created in 2006. One of the few public educators is a woman named Shukria Gul, who got infected from her husband. She had been fighting ever since to raise awareness of the disease, and has been highly critical of the government's efforts. Ignorance about the disease, and how it is spread, is commonplace; this is particularly true among people performing high risk bahavior such as prostitute
s. Pakistani prostitutes do not have access to condoms or contraception
, and there is little effort to provide any sort of public health education for this high-risk group.
Where there was no public call for tolerance or acceptance of LGBT
people, the subject of sexual orientation
and gender identity
are becoming more openly discussed, especially in light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
All but a handful of LGBT Pakistanis are in the closet, the most public form of homosexuality involving illegal
prostitution.
Young boys, and girls, are often forced into prostitution due to poverty, or outright coercion and have no means of protection.
within Pakistan, to support LGBT-rights. The current criminal ban on homosexuality comes from a British colonial era law, which has been on the books since 1860, with subsequent laws further restricting LGBT-rights under the guise of protecting public morality.
Pakistan does not have civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
laws to prohibit discrimination or harassment on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and there is no legal recognition of same-sex marriage or civil union
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
s in Pakistan.
The LGBT community in Pakistan has not formally begun to campaign for LGBT-rights, but there is growing tolerance for social gatherings of gay men in the cities and the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled in favor of the civil rights of transsexual citizens.
LGBT Legal Issues
Pakistani law is a mixture of both Anglo-Saxon colonial law as well as Islamic law, both which proscribe criminal penalties for homosexuality. The Pakistan Penal Code of 1860, originally developed under colonialism, punishes acts of sodomySodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
with a possible prison sentence and has other provisions that impact the human rights of LGBT Pakistanis, under the guise of protecting public morality and order. Alongside these Anglo-Saxon based laws are the religious courts and Islamic laws, where the maximum punishment for sodomy is death. Yet, the more likely situation for gay and bisexual men is sporadic police blackmail, harassment, fines and jail sentences http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/1860/actXLVof1860.html.
Pakistan Constitution
The Pakistan Constitution does not explicitly make mention of sexual orientationSexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
or gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
. It does contain certain provisions that may impact the constitutional rights of LGBT Pakistani citizens http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/.
- Part II 37. The government pledges to promote Islamic values among its Muslim citizens, to protect marriage and the family and to oppose obscenity.
- Part II 38. The government will guarantee all of citizens education, job training, and health care services, including social insurance.
- Part IX 227. Islam is the official state religion, and all laws, rules, regulations and other such legislation must be compatible with Islam, as defined by a government appointed Islamic council.
Pakistan Penal Code 1860
- Article 141 - An assembly of five or more persons is designated an "unlawful assembly" if the common object of the persons composing that assembly is...To commit any mischief or criminal trespass, or other offense.
- Article 153 - Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or otherwise, induce or attempts to induce any student, or any class of students, or any institution interested in or connected with students, to take part in any political activity which disturbs or undermines, or is likely disturb or undermine, the public order shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to two years or –with fine or with both.
- Article 268 - A person is guilty of a public nuisance who does any act or is guilty of an illegal omission which causes any common injury, danger or annoyance to the public or to the people in general who dwell or occupy property in the vicinity, or which must necessarily cause injury, obstruction, danger or annoyance to persons who may have occasion to use any public right.
- Article 269 - Whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.
- Article 270 - Whoever malignantly does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
- Article 290 - Whoever commits a public nuisance in any case not otherwise punishable by this Code, shall be punished with fine which may extend to six hundred rupees.
- Article 292 - Prohibits the sale, distribution, exhibition, ownership or importation of any, "obscene" books, phamplets, or other literature or images.
- Article 294 - Prohibits any "obscene" public acts, songs, music or poems.
- Article 371A - Whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any person with intent that such a person shall at any time be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, or knowing it to be likely that such person shall at any time be employed or used for any such, purpose, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to twenty-five years, and shall also be liable to fine
- Article 371B - When a female is sold, let for hire, or otherwise disposed of to a prostitute or to any person who keeps or manages a brothel, the person so disposing of such female shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have disposed of her with the intent that she shall be used for the purpose of prostitution. For the purposes of this section and section 371B, "illicit intercourse" means sexual intercourse between persons not united by marriage.
- Article 377 - Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years nor more than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in this section.
- Article 496 - Whoever, dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention, goes through the ceremony of being married, knowing that he is not thereby lawfully married, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall be liable to fine.
Abuse Issues
An institutional form of pederastyPederasty
Pederasty or paederasty is an intimate relationship between an adult and an adolescent boy outside his immediate family. The word pederasty derives from Greek "love of boys", a compound derived from "child, boy" and "lover".Historically, pederasty has existed as a variety of customs and...
does exist within certain parts of rural Pakistan, which is often treated as being the same as homosexuality, thus furthering homophobia within Pakistani society and making it harder to help victims of sexual abuse, because both the abuser and his victim are often treated as the law and society treats gay people.
The World Organization Against Torture (Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture, OMCT) targeted Pakistan conservatives in the tribal areas in 1997 over the recent whipping of two males, an adult and a minor, allegedly caught having sex in a public lavatory. Mohammad Yaman, a mosque worker and Fahimullah, 14, a student were lashed publicly on 1997-05-17 in Bara Bazar in Pakistan's western Khyber Agency
Khyber agency
Khyber is a tribal area in the FATA region of Pakistan. It is one of the eight tribal areas, better known as agencies in Pakistan. It ranges from the Tirah valley down to Peshawar...
, an area administered by local Afridi tribesmen. It was reported that Fahimullah was paid PKR 100 (USD 1.15) for the act. The adult was whipped 75 times while the minor received 32 lashes.
A Kahuta
Kahuta
Kahuta is a town and tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. According to Pakistan's 2008 census, Kahuta tehsil has a population of approximately 160,000....
based Pakistani cleric stated on 2007-12-31 that every homosexual person should be killed to stop this sudden growth towards sexual awareness suggesting either beheading or stoning the involved.
There have been several incidents of pederasty
Pederasty
Pederasty or paederasty is an intimate relationship between an adult and an adolescent boy outside his immediate family. The word pederasty derives from Greek "love of boys", a compound derived from "child, boy" and "lover".Historically, pederasty has existed as a variety of customs and...
reported as being made by clerics towards young boys at religious schools or madrasah
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
s.
It is often difficult for victims of sexual abuse to get justice in these situations, because the public does not want to believe that a cleric could engage in pederastry and the victims, young boys who are forced to be the receptive partner in anal intercourse are often perceived as being gay and are thus subjected to social hostility and even legal sanctions. While the LGBT community is not ready to tackle such abuse and prejudices, a growing number of gay and bisexual men are creating social networks
Metropolitan areas like Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
and Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
have seen many gay men, mostly of the middle and upper classes, enjoying themselves at parties aimed at proclaiming their gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
.
These usually involve large numbers of men dancing together in huge isolated rooms modelled into a discothèque environment and making out
Making out
In human sexuality, making out is a sexual euphemism of American origin dating back to at least 1949, and is used synonymously with the terms necking, heavy petting, and hooking up to refer to non-penetrative sex, though "hooking up" is also used in some cultures to imply casual sex.-History:The...
. In 2008 an incident that caught the eyes of passers-by was a group of cross-dressed men dancing to Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
tunes on a rooftop on the day of Basant. Yet, despite examples of tolerance, prejudice and discrimination still exists.
In 2003, however, three Pakistani men were arrested in the city of Lahore when one of their relatives turned them in for engaging in homosexuality at a private party. Their punishment is not known.
In 2005, a man named Liaquat Ali, 42, from Khyber
Khyber agency
Khyber is a tribal area in the FATA region of Pakistan. It is one of the eight tribal areas, better known as agencies in Pakistan. It ranges from the Tirah valley down to Peshawar...
region bordering Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
married a fellow tribesman Markeen, 16, with the usual pomp and show associated with tribal weddings. Upon hearing of the man's religious infidelity, a tribal council told the pair to leave the area or face death.
Where men are now opening up to sexualities, lesbianism has lesser exposure in the country and one hears almost rarely of events that matter to women indulging in homosexual relationships. One such court case, decided in 2008, displayed the same disapproving attitude towards a lesbian relationship as it would have towards two men involved.
Transsexualism and intersexuality
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n nations, a concept of third gender
Third gender
The terms third gender and third sex describe individuals who are categorized as neither man nor woman, as well as the social category present in those societies who recognize three or more genders...
prevails where members of the same are referred to as neither man or a woman. Pakistan is no different and has a vibrant culture of hijras. They are sometimes referred to as transsexuals in English language publications. Like transgender people in many countries they are sometimes the subjects of ridicule, abuse, and violence. That said they enjoy a certain level of acceptance due to their position in precolonial Desi society. For example they are welcome at weddings where they will dance as entertainment for the men, and are also welcome among the women.
Their presence in society is usually tolerated and are considered blessed in the Pakistani culture. Most hijras are deemed to have been direct cultural descendants of the court eunuchs of the Mughal era
Mughal era
The Mughal era is a historic period of the Mughal Empire in South Asia . It ran from the early 15th century to a point in the early 18th century when the Mughal Emperors' power had dwindled...
.
Thought to be born with genital dysphoria and afraid that they might curse one their fate,
people listen to their needs, give them alms and invite their presence at various events and functions, e.g., birth of a child, his circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
or weddings. This mysteriousness that shrouds their existence has born of the fact that the hijra communities live a very secretive life. In 2004 it was reported that Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
alone has 10,000 active transvestites.
People have started accepting acts of sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
to change their sex as a norm either compelled by gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...
or just for the sake of it. There are situations where such cases have come into the limelight. A 2008 ruling at Pakistan's Lahore High Court
Lahore High Court
The Lahore High Court is based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on March 21, 1919. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab...
issued permissions to Naureen, 28, to have a sex change operation, although the decision was applicable only towards people suffering from gender identity disorder.
In 2009, the Pakistan Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of transvestites. The landmark ruling stated that as citizens they were entitled to the equal benefit and protection of the law and called upon the government to take steps to protect transvestites from discrimination and harassment http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/14-sc-orders-equal-benefits-for-transvestites-zj-02
Acceptance in media and popular culture
In 2005, Ali SaleemAli Saleem
Ali Saleem , best known by his alter-ego Begum Nawazish Ali, is a Pakistani television host, actor, scriptwriter and impressionist...
, 28, son of an army colonel gathered courage to appear on Geo TV
Geo TV
Geo TV or Geo Television is a Pakistani television network, founded by Mr. Mir Shakil ur Rehman in May 2002 and owned by Independent Media Corporation. The channel began test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning 1 October 2002...
's Hum Sub Umeed Se Hain as cross-dressed Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
. So loved were his performances that he has taken to act to extremes on-air and presents his own talk show where he appears as a drag
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
ged-up character named Begum Nawazish Ali. Begum would almost always interview influential government ministers, e.g., pro-Jamait-e-Islami former mayor of Karachi, Naimatullah Khan
Naimatullah Khan
Niamthullah Khan was the Nazim of largest city of Pakistan, Karachi from August 2001-June 2005. He graduated from Punjab University with a Masters in Journalism and a Law Degree from Karachi University. He is lawyer by profession. He is the chairman of the biggest NGO of Pakistan, Alkhidmat...
.
His character self is often compared to Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...
.
Government's stance on homosexuality
Pakistani law is a combination of the colonialColonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
and Islamic view. Under the Pakistan Penal Code
Pakistan penal code
The Pakistan Penal Code usually called PPC is a penal code for all offences charged in Pakistan. It was originally prepared by Lord Macaulay with a great consultation in 1860 on the behalf of the Government of British India as the Indian Penal Code...
(PCC), homosexuality is deemed a crime that is punishable by a prison sentence. With the Islamicisation of Pakistan policies under the rule of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988...
, Islamic sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
laws were intervened with the existing laws. A complete compilation of Islamic laws that amended the policies were called the Hudood Ordinance
Hudood Ordinance
The Hudood Ordinance was a law in Pakistan that was enacted in 1979 as part of then-military ruler Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization and replaced or revised in 2006 by the Women's Protection Bill....
that stipulated severe punishments for adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
, fornication
Fornication
Fornication typically refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. For many people, the term carries a moral or religious association, but the significance of sexual acts to which the term is applied varies between religions, societies and cultures. The...
, consuming alcohol and homosexuality. What was excluded however was punishments for actions that involved pederasty, pederasty became confused with other carnal acts.
Under the colonial aspects of law, since 1860, homosexuality was a crime punishable by a sentence of two to 10 years in prison. However, when the Islamic laws were introduced to the system, amendments included primitive forms of punishments like whipping of up to 100 lashes and death by stoning. A homosexual Pakistani may face either secular or Islamic, or in some cases both punishments combined. Although, all of the known recorded cases of these laws being used against LGBT Pakistanis suggest that more common punishment involves police harassment and the imposition of fines and or jail time.
Under section 377 of the PPC, it states:
In the PPC, the provision defining the offence and prescribing the punishment for it is titled unnatural offences where people would argue that while homosexuality is generally an offence under Pakistan's Penal Code (PCC), this particular law does not specifically refer to homosexuality.
The UNHRC vote
The IslamabadIslamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
government has always shown resistance against the issue of gay rights and never hid its intolerance. A UN vote cast on 2003-04-25, on issues of homosexual human rights was derailed at the last minute by an alliance of five disapproving Muslim countries which included Pakistan. The others being Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and Malaysia.
The countries delayed their votes to stall the process and proposed amendments that were meant to kill the measure deliberately, removing all references to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, rendering the resolution meaningless. The resolution was tabled by Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
with support from 19 of the 53 member countries of the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. It called on member states to promote and protect the human rights of all persons, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Course of denials
The Government denies that homosexuality even exists in Pakistan and that LGBTLGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
expressions or human rights are alien concepts from the decadent west. Pakistan is one of the few countries retaining penalty of death as punishment for homosexuality and one of the eight countries retaining capital punishment for the same. Others being Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Saudi Arabia and Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. However, the UAE's stance is unclear.
Civil rights
No civil rights legislation exists to prohibit public or private sector discrimination on the basis of sexual orientationSexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
or gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
and nor are political parties or organizations in Pakistan publicly supporting any LGBT rights legislation. Sociologists Stephen O. Murray and Badruddin Khan have written that the penal laws themselves are rarely enforced directly, but are used by the police and other private citizens as a form of blackmail.
Pakistan is under the spotlight after the derailment of the UN vote to make a formal statement supporting the human rights of LGBT people. During that same month, the chief minister of Pakistan’s south-eastern state of Sindh, Ali Mohammad Mahar, was publicly outed as being gay and attending private parties in women's clothing, although he was allowed to keep his government job.
LGBT politics
Political parties, interest groups and other political organizations in Pakistan are required to respect, Islam and "public morality", which may, prelude any endorsement of LGBT-rights. The one exception seems to be Pakistani citizens who are transsexual or a member of the third genderThird gender
The terms third gender and third sex describe individuals who are categorized as neither man nor woman, as well as the social category present in those societies who recognize three or more genders...
. In 2009, the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that the government must take proactive steps to protect transsexuals from harassment and discrimination, although no legislation in the area of gender identity has advanced. 'Third gender' officially protected from discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
by the Supreme Court of Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court is the apex court in Pakistan's judicial hierarchy, the final arbiter of legal and constitutional disputes. The Supreme Court has a permanent seat in Islamabad. It has number of Branch Registries where cases are heard. It has a number of de jure powers which are outlined in the...
in 2010.
Related issues
A growing number of gay and bisexual Pakistanis, mostly from the urban, middle and upper classes, are more open about their sexual orientation and are attending or hosting social functions. While there is no political movement being launched, the Internet has played a large role in social networking and fighting isolation with websites like FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, Orkut
Orkut
Orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc. The service is designed to help users meet new and old friends and maintain existing relationships...
, blogs and websites.
The blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
so far has been immune to the modern emergence of queer desi
Desi
Desi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...
identity. Blogs now highlight stories and issues specific to this marginalised community.
One of the issues that that has opened up public discussion about homosexuality has been effort to combat the spread of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
among men who have sex with other men, but may not necessarily identity as being gay or bisexual in orientation. UNAIDS official reports suggest that they are targeting night truck drivers who are known for having sex with other younger men.
Of most concern is the spread of HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
.
Fighting HIV and AIDS
The AIDS pandemic first arose in Pakistan in 1987, and the official government reports estimate (as of 2004) that nearly 3,000 Pakistanis are living with the disease, although several critics believe that the government is underestimating the problem.It is believed that the number may have risen to somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000 people,
and possibly as high as 210,000 (as in the UNAIDS Pakistan reports).
Today, a small number of organizations exist in Pakistan to promote greater education about HIV/AIDS, including the Association for People Living With AIDS/HIV In Pakistan, which was created in 2006. One of the few public educators is a woman named Shukria Gul, who got infected from her husband. She had been fighting ever since to raise awareness of the disease, and has been highly critical of the government's efforts. Ignorance about the disease, and how it is spread, is commonplace; this is particularly true among people performing high risk bahavior such as prostitute
Prostitution in Pakistan
Prostitution in Pakistan is a taboo culture of sex-trade that exists as an open secret but illegal. Prostitution is largely based in organisational setups like brothels or furthered by individual call girls in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. The sex trade is deemed illegal in the...
s. Pakistani prostitutes do not have access to condoms or contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
, and there is little effort to provide any sort of public health education for this high-risk group.
Where there was no public call for tolerance or acceptance of LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people, the subject of sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
are becoming more openly discussed, especially in light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
All but a handful of LGBT Pakistanis are in the closet, the most public form of homosexuality involving illegal
prostitution.
Young boys, and girls, are often forced into prostitution due to poverty, or outright coercion and have no means of protection.
See also
- Human rights in PakistanHuman rights in PakistanPakistan’s human rights record has dramatically improved since the reforms that took place after the tenure of President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988. The situation of human rights in Pakistan is a complex one, as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a...
- Prostitution in PakistanProstitution in PakistanProstitution in Pakistan is a taboo culture of sex-trade that exists as an open secret but illegal. Prostitution is largely based in organisational setups like brothels or furthered by individual call girls in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. The sex trade is deemed illegal in the...
- Court system of PakistanCourt system of PakistanCourt system of Pakistan is made up of many courts differing in levels of legal superiority and separated by jurisdiction. Some of the courts are federal in nature while others are provincial.-Structure of courts in Pakistan:...
- Pakistan Penal CodePakistan penal codeThe Pakistan Penal Code usually called PPC is a penal code for all offences charged in Pakistan. It was originally prepared by Lord Macaulay with a great consultation in 1860 on the behalf of the Government of British India as the Indian Penal Code...
- Al-Fatiha FoundationAl-Fatiha FoundationThe Al-Fatiha Foundation is an organization which advances the cause of gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims. It was founded in 1997 by Faisal Alam, a Pakistani American, and is registered as a nonprofit organization in the United States...
- LGBT rights in Asia