Guys and Friends

Persecuted for being gay

The voices of people from around the world
who have found themselves stigmatised for their sexuality

 

Ali, from Sudan

Along with 11 of his friends, Ali was detained when agents from the Sudanese intelligence agency raided a private party. They were put in solitary confinement in cells measuring 1.5 sqm. Ali was deprived of water and food for two days. Of the 11 friends Ali mentioned, eight were later flogged with 100 lashes each, while the fate of another three members, including his boyfriend, remains unknown.

They stripped me naked and they started to interrogate me. They asked me about everything: whether I was gay, about my friends, family, my politics and my LGBT association activities.

One of them put a pistol to my head and said: "I wish I could kill you right now." They dragged me by my legs and they tied me upside down, and they started hitting me with a metal stick all over my body; they grabbed my penis and hit me there too. They used the metal stick to rape me, and they were laughing out loud, asking: "Do you like it, do you want more?" I was screaming with pain and bleeding from everywhere. They kept doing it until I lost consciousness.

I remained there for almost four weeks and spent another three and a half months in prison. I was waiting for my trial, expecting to be sentenced to death. Then some family members succeeded in smuggling me out of prison and I fled the country with a fake passport.

Tarik, from Tunisia

Five years ago, before I left Tunisia, I not only heard homophobic remarks, I also made them myself. I used to belong to an extremist religious group and I was taught that homosexuals should be killed by throwing them from a high place. I was taught that being gay is because of the devil we have inside. I liked men and hated myself.

The main reason I don't want to go back to Tunisia is that I don't want to lose myself – I am afraid of the "old" me; I like the "new" me. Being gay in Tunisia can lead to prison. The authorities regularly issue propaganda in order to manipulate or satisfy public opinion, so people are relieved when a gay group is arrested and feel the police are doing good job.

In rich places, gay people can survive, but in other quarters gays have two options: they can get married, say prayers, be good Muslims; or they can become prostitutes, abused by frustrated bisexual men and treated with contempt and hate. They are threatened by STDs and are in a very bad financial situation.

The anti-gay laws in Tunisia are also used in revenge. One can, at any moment, accuse his enemy of practising sodomy, even if it is false.

Tarik blogs at gay-ana.blogspot.com

A gay man from Karachi, Pakistan, who asked to remain anonymous

When it comes to being homosexual, there are two Pakistans. The first concerns the majority of the country, people who are relatively poorly educated with little money and no access to the internet. For them it's very difficult; there isn't even a consciousness about what it means to be gay. That said, it's not a situation where people are being caught and found hanging from lampposts.

I came from the other Pakistan – a more privileged urban community that is connected to what's going on in the rest of the world, through fashion and movies and culture. I have a normal social life like everybody else, it's simply not an issue. But it's all very discreet and under the radar.

We have draconian laws that outlaw homosexual activity, and a slew of political parties that recently made statements showing they are unwilling to accept gay people. Fighting for gay rights would be counter-productive here – it's a fight we would be guaranteed to lose. In India, they used HIV as a platform to get the community together. In Pakistan, that would be a recipe for disaster, leading to terrible recriminations.

Despite our laws against homosexuality, which go back to the British colonial era, prosecutions are rare.

For most people it's a problem of space. We have an extended family system here that affords very little privacy. People live in close proximity to their close relatives for many years. The internet has created an immense amount of space for people to meet one another, through dating sites and so on. Some people have no compunction about showing their faces or revealing their identity, which shows that there's a young, urban educated class that couldn't give a damn.