LGBTQ asks for License to Open 1st Gay Club in Abbottabad, Pakistan

 

Photo collage that the Pakistan Observer published with its article about the proposal for a gay club.

In Pakistan, where same-sex intimacy is against the law, an entrepreneur is seeking official approval to open the country’s first openly gay club.

If approved, the club would open in the northeastern city of Abbottabad, a location that’s best known in the West for being the place where Islamist militant Osama bin Laden hid out until the United States tracked him down and killed him in 2011.

Under Pakistani law, “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” is punishable by up to life imprisonment, but the application for the Lorenzo Gay Club specifies that no sex other than kissing would be allowed there.

Map shows the location of Abbottabad in Pakistan. (Map courtesy of Encyclopedia Brittanica)

This is a modestly edited version of an article about the club in the Pakistan Observer:

LGBTQ community seeks approval for Pakistan’s first gay club in Abbottabad

The LGBTQ community in Pakistan has been advocating for acceptance and rights, despite facing challenges amid conservative societal attitudes and legal restrictions, and now the Office of the Deputy Commissioner in Abbottabad has been approached for a gay club.

A formal request for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) has been made to establish a gay club under name of “Lorenzo Gay Club” in that garrison city.

The application submitted by Preetum Giani called for a safe space for individuals of all gays to socialize, with strict rules against any sexual activities in the club.

The application states that  The club would constitute a great practical 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 Lorenzo Gay Club would basically be just a venue where gay people could freely meet, converse with, and share light refreshments with other gay people; it WOULD NOT be a place to engage in gay or non-gay sex other than kissing.” The applicant called it a matter of the basic human right of free association, enshrined in the country’s constitution.

The application sparked debate online, as the region is known for being traditional and conservative.

DC Abbottabad office has not yet responded to the application. The Pakistan Observer asked officials for comment, but so far has gotten no response.