By Shaheryar Ali
The problem of LGBT [Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender] rights in Pakistan becomes especially complex taking into account, the “combined and uneven development” of the Islamic Republic , the conflicting influences of westernization, and Islamisation, the post-modern conditions and the “queer” turn of the “world Wide LGBT movement” itself.
Despite all the hurdles Pakistan has seen an unprecedented explosion of “Queer Culture”. There has been a mushrooming of Urban Gay life style in larger cities of Pakistan. There has been an increase in “gay consciousness” in the media. There has been going on a slow transformation of “gender roles” especially visible in urban Pakistani male, described as the “rise of meterosexuality in Urban Pakistan” in the contemporary fashion discourse. An analysis of meterosexualiy reveals it’s nothing but “liberalization” of gender identities and roles. The things considered to be “taboos’ for “masculinity” have gained acceptance in increasingly larger number of males. The “attire” once considered to be “identification” for homosexuals has now become mainstream urban male fashion. The low waist jeans, bright and exotic colors, chokers, bracelets, rings,waxing, all could be traced to “attire” of an underground “homo” of the 60s in London.
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