Guess Which Extremely Homophobic Country Turns Out To Love Gay Porn

Impact

Pakistan, a country that ranks among the least accepting of homosexuality in the world, is ironically also the world leader in gay porn trafficking, according to an article in Mother Jones

According to a Pew Research Attitudes Study of global acceptance of homosexuality, only 2% of those surveyed in Pakistan said society should accept homosexuality. Of the 39 countries included in the survey, Pakistan was the second least tolerant, with only Nigeria expressing more disapproval. 

The study suggests that in contrast to countries in North America, Latin America, and the European Union, Middle Eastern and African countries, which are predominantly Muslim nations, are less tolerant of homosexuality. Pakistani society is so intolerant of homosexuality that is is actually "one of the few countries in the world where homosexuality is punishable by death." The other seven countries that allegedly punish homosexuality by death are also Muslim nations including Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. 

The study suggests that religion plays an important factor in tolerance of homosexuality. Those nations that expressed the most tolerance for homosexuality were overwhelmingly secular, while the opposite was true in "nations where religion is central to public life." 

According to sociologist Stephen Murray who studies multi-national social attitudes toward homosexuality, “there is no gay life in the Western sense of the word, and any sexual relationships between men have to be concealed and managed behind the context of marriage to a woman." Therefore, while homosexual feelings and actions do certainly occur in Pakistan, society mandates that they must be repressed and hidden. He attributes the attempt to hide homosexuality to a mixture of "cultural and religious traditions." 

There is a strong conviction Pakistan that homosexuality is a sign of deviance and breaking with God's will. Therefore, homosexuality is pushed under the rug. According to human rights activist and lawyer Hina Jilani, homosexuality is not discussed publicly, but there exists a tacit acceptance among Pakistani men. 

Here is the twist: According to Google Trends, Pakistan is by volume the world leader for Google searches of the terms "shemale sex," "teen anal sex," and "man fucking man." How can we explain the contradiction between interest in gay-porn related items on the Internet and the country's allegedly condemnatory views of homosexuality?

The answer to this contradiction could be the widespread desire to hide homosexuality from the public eye.  Rather than give expression to homosexual desires through these relationships that are considered, Pakistani men use porn an outlet. And because it is a private activity, looking at gay porn is considered acceptable. 

Interestingly, Pakistan is not alone: Kenya, another nation with an overwhelmingly negative attitude toward homosexuality, is also a world leader in the volume of trafficking for searches containing the term "gay sex pics."

The trend seems to make sense. Porn serves as an outlet where Pakistani men with repressed homosexual desires can unleash these feelings on a stage where it is private, and therefore, socially and culturally acceptable.

While homosexuality may be a cultural taboo in Muslim nations such as Pakistan, that is not to say that homosexuality does not exist. Rather, these feelings are repressed, concealed from the public eye, and unleashed in other arenas such as the Internet, where society cannot condemn them.