Pakistani Man Sent To Mental Hospital After He Tries To Open Gay Club

A Pakistani man, who wanted to establish the country's first gay club, to raise his voice for the "most neglected community" has been sent to a mental hospital, a report said. 

The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, earlier filed an application with the deputy commissioner (DC) to set up a gay club in Abbottabad, a conservative city where terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

In his application, the man stated that the club, tentatively called 'Lorenzo Gay Club', was to 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,” The Telegraph reported.

Gay sex is illegal in Pakistan, and it can lead to up to two years in prison. While these laws are rarely applied, the conservative religious culture in Pakistan has made it difficult to be openly homosexual, the outlet revealed.

The application further said that in the envisaged gay club, "there would be no gay (or non-gay) sex (other than kissing).” A notice on the wall would warn against "sex on premises," the application mentioned. 

"This would mean that no legal constraints (even obsolete ones like [anti-sodomy] PPC section 377) would be flouted on the premises," it added.

Before being sent to the mental hospital in Peshawar, the man told the news outlet, "I talk about human rights and I want everyone's human rights to be defended”.

He asserted that he would seek a written reply from officials if his petition were rejected. I have started the "struggle for the rights of the most neglected community in Pakistan" and will continue to raise his 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," The Telegraph quoted him as saying.

The DC office in Abbottabad confirmed that an application in this regard was received and being reviewed like any other proposal. However, the man's attempt soon went in vain after his application got leaked on social media, prompting fury from local residents as well as politicians in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.