Pakistan moves into first place in homophobia sweepstakes

How quickly fortunes change. It seems just yesterday Jamaica led the world in virulent homophobia. Maybe the prison term for Grammy-winning drug trafficker Buju Banton has thrown them off their game. Just in the last few days we’ve seen lgbt people referred to by respectable Pakistani authorities and religious figures as ‘social garbage’ and ‘cultural terrorists.’ I know where I won’t be spending my next vacation! From the International Business Times: Conservative religious activists in Pakistan have condemned and protested a gay rights event last week sponsored by the US embassy in Islamabad. At the “gay=pride” event at the embassy, the US deputy ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Hoagland, said Washington was committed to gay rights in the country.
“I want to be clear: the US embassy is here to support you and stand by your side every step of the way,” the embassy said in a statement. “This gathering demonstrated continued US Embassy support for human rights, including LGBT rights, in Pakistan at a time when those rights are increasingly under attack from extremist elements throughout Pakistani society.” Members of Pakistan’s largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) described the event as a form of “cultural terrorism.” “Such people [homosexuals] are the curse of society and social garbage,” JI said.
“They don’t deserve to be Muslim or Pakistani, and the support and protection announced by the US administration for them is the worst social and cultural terrorism against Pakistan.”]]>