When President Pervez Musharraf boasted of empowering minorities, during a press conference with George Bush in Islamabad 10 days ago, he was unlikely to have been referring to gay emancipation. Sodomy is punishable by up to life in jail, and religious leaders condemn gay men as an aberration of western corruption. Homosexuality is taboo in Pakistani society, where sexual orientation is rarely discussed and the gay rights debate is non-existent.
'We just want to have fun,' said one of the organisers, known as the 'hot boyz'. But most of the party-goers were in their 20s, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, and looking for a good time. Some older men with moustaches and wearing traditional shalwar kameez stared silently from the sidelines.
