nations where religion is central to public life—such as Egypt, Nigeria, and Pakistan—tend to reject homosexuality. --- only the religious persecute gays.
On Jun 14, 9:36 am, Bear Bear <[email protected]> wrote: > OH those wacky paki's > > Why Is Gay Porn So Popular in Pakistan? > > —By Alex Park <http://www.motherjones.com/authors/alex-park> > | Thu Jun. 13, 2013 11:47 AM PDT > > - > - > > Earlier this month, the Pew Research Center published results of a > public survey > of gay tolerance in 39 countries > worldwide<http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/global-acceptance-of-homosexuality/>. > The numbers are fairly unsurprising: While a high proportion of respondents > in Western Europe and North America answered "yes" to the question "Should > society accept homosexuality?" few respondents in the Middle East and > Africa agreed with them. > [image: Levels of gay tolerance in 39 countries] > The Washington Post / Pew > > Among the least tolerant nations surveyed was Pakistan, where only 2 > percent of those surveyed said society should accept homosexuality. That > statistic might be unsurprising, considering that gay sex is illegal under > the Pakistani penal > code<http://www.irinnews.org/report/28594/pakistan-focus-on-gay-rights>. > But what is surprising is how those views compare to Pakistani search > traffic around gay-porn related terms. > > As of this writing, Pakistan is by volume *the world leader* for Google > searches of the terms "shemale sex," "teen anal sex," and "man fucking > man," according to Google > Trends<http://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=woman+on+woman#q=shemale%20sex...>. > Pakistan also ranks second in the world (after similarly gay-intolerant > Kenya) for volume of searches for the search term "gay sex pics." > > In its report, Pew noted that countries exhibiting the highest levels of > gay tolerance are largely secular, whereas nations where religion is > central to public life—such as Egypt, Nigeria, and Pakistan—tend to reject > homosexuality. But in Pakistan, what's even more peculiar is that the > highest number of hits for some of these terms, including "shemale > sex," come not from Pakistan's cosmopolitan centers, but from Peshawar, a > bastion of conservative Islam, lately known in the West as a counterterrorism > frontline<http://www.kentucky.com/2013/06/10/2672818/official-nato-trucks-attac...> > . > > Farahnaz Ispahani, an expert in Pakistani minorities at the Woodrow Wilson > International Center for Scholars and a former member of Pakistan's > parliament, says that homosexuality is a taboo subject throughout the > country. In major cities such as Lahore and Karachi, gays can develop a > network of allies outside their tribe or family, but in conservative > Peshawar, gay identity is more complicated. Part of the popularity of gay > porn could stem from the fact that even highly observant Muslim males often > have physical relationships with men without considering themselves gay, > she says. > > "The real love they can have that most of us find with a partner, they find > with men," Ispahani says. "They mostly see their wives as the mother of > their children." > > At the same time, she says, persecution of minorities, including gays, has > reached an all-time high in Pakistan, and discussing homosexuality openly > in public is virtually forbidden. "Religious extremism is at a height > today," she says. "Hindus are being forced to > convert<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/world/asia/pakistani-hindus-say-wom...>, > Christians are being burned > alive<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/02/christians-burned-alive-p...>—there's > very little personal safety for those seen as 'the other.' So what do [gay > Pakistanis] do? They turn to pornography because they can't live their > lives openly." > > Shereen El Feki, author of the recent book *Sex and the Citadel: Intimate > Life in a Changing Arab World* <http://sexandthecitadel.com/>, says the > discrepancy between perceptions around homosexuality and its apparent > reality in Pakistan is consistent with her own findings in the Middle East, > where, in recent years, the dialogue around sexual identity has been > co-opted by fundamentalist clerics. > > "Islamic conservatives, whether they're actually in power or the > governments in power are trying to placate them, they will tend to go to > very narrow definitions of Islam," she says. "One of the easiest ways to do > this is to come down hard on the role of women, and particularly around sex > and homosexuality." > > Long before the rise of Islamic conservatism, El Feki says, the Middle East > and India had a literary tradition that celebrated gay love, but in recent > years, that openness has been forgotten. > > "You find in most civilizations in the Global South a much more open > approach to homosexuality—irrespective of its status in religious and > theological doctrine—than you find today," she says. "So very often, any > attempt to open a dialogue in the Arab region is branded as some 'Western > conspiracy' to undermine traditional Arab and Muslim values. The reality is > that long before the West was talking openly about homosexuality, Arabs in > particular were writing about this very frankly. Our history has come to be > rewritten by Islamic conservatives." > > -- > *Bearhttp://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/GNUZ/ > * -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
