In this and similar photos below, Qasim Iqbal as photographed by Nicholas Snow in Bali, Indonesia, in August of 2009
Nicholas Snow's Notes From The World: Defying the Consequences—Pakistani Activist Qasim Iqbal
Welcome to the first installment of Notes From The World, a column in which I will report stories of courage, strength and hope of individuals worldwide who are passionately involved in the struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered civil rights as well as the battle against HIV/AIDS, demonstrating how these issues are inseparable from the overall fight for human rights for everyone. In addition, I will infuse travel and entertainment reporting into the mix to not only celebrate the freedoms that exist for many of us, but to contrast these freedoms against the dark realities of individuals living in more oppressed situations where sometimes their very lives are at risk.
In August of 2009, I attended the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9) held in Bali, Indonesia. The event, supported whole-heartedly by the Indonesian government, was officially opened by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a ceremony that I attended. Yet for a short and immensely controversial period last year, as reported by Fridae.com, “Legislators in the devoutly Muslim province of Aceh have passed the Islamic criminal code on Monday, allowing adulterers to be stoned to death. Homosexuals (including lesbians) and those caught having premarital sex will face up to 100 strokes with a cane and a prison term of up to eight years.”
While in Bali, I stayed in a clothing optional gay hotel, went numerous times to gay bars, and also to a gay beach—a dramatically sharp contrast to what people in an extreme part of the same country are facing. While many of us live safe, gay-friendly, open lives in fairly supportive communities, millions of people throughout the world are forced to live deeply, darkly in the closet, risking their very lives at the slightest attempt to pursue their basic human passions. What is wrong with this picture?
While attending ICAAP I had the honor of meeting Pakistani activist Qasim Iqbal, an openly-gay, openly-HIV positive activist who grew up in America. He lives and works in Pakistan but our interview took place in Bali. About his work, he confided, “It makes it very difficult to do my job over there (in Pakistan) simply because the laws are very, very strict. If you are known to be a homosexual, punishment can be life imprisonment to stoning to death.”
Was he risking his life allowing me to interview him for worldwide consumption?
“Fortunately I come from an influential family where, in Pakistan, if you have the right contacts within the government and even within civil society, nobody can touch you,” Qasim explained. “The laws are there, but they’re really for the under-privileged. For example, alcohol is illegal in Pakistan. You cannot consume or purchase alcohol. However, in the upper class, I think everybody drinks over there.”
Are gay people risking their lives by being themselves?
“Well, you have to be very, very careful,” stressed Qasim. “Of course, in Pakistan, since alcohol is illegal we don’t really have any gay bars as such or any, you know, formal meeting places… Most of the time you meet through the internet…the gay social networking web sites, and when you meet each other its usually in a private home or an apartment, a place like that, usually not in a public place. There are crackdowns. There are certain areas which are known for male sex work. However, the police are so corrupt, you just give them a few dollars, a dollar or two, and they’ll leave you alone.“
The solution, Qasim believes, is advocacy. “I think that people need to be sensitized about the gay lifestyle, about the gay culture, because there are too many stereotypes that we need to break. And especially in Pakistan it becomes very difficult because we have a very religious culture, a very Islamic culture. So, it is very difficult to even talk to people over there. They basically believe that is something is not of the norm, they are not very accepting of it. We just need to talk to them, sensitize them as much as possible.”
He added, “It’s amazing that in our neighboring country of India, they were able to achieve gay rights just a month or two ago (homosexuality has been decriminalized in India), which is something that even the United States hasn’t gotten yet, so if a third world country like India can do it, maybe there’s still hope for us.”
In a sad twist, the U.S. government revoked his dual citizenship when it became known that Qasim is HIV positive. And last year when attempting to travel to the U.S. at the invitation of and for a meeting involving United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, even with a signed invitation letter from the Secretary-General himself, Qasim was denied an HIV waiver and visa. “That is state sponsored stigma and discrimination if you ask me, and America of all the countries who tries to the big daddy as far as human rights is concerned all over the world, when they tried to stop me from going to the United States, now where does the human rights go then?”
(Note: This interview took place in August, 2009. In January 2010 the United States lifted its decades-old travel ban of persons living with HIV).
He added, “I’m a Muslim. I was born a Muslim. Saudi Arabia is another country where I cannot travel to. My place of holy pilgrimage where I’m supposed to go, I’m not allowed to go perform that just simply because I am HIV positive. So I really do call this a state sponsored stigma and discrimination and it’s very unfair and unfortunate.”
What about stereotypes of Muslims?
“Muslims are stereotyped usually as terrorists and yes, we do have a very small, that’s a small, very, very tiny segment of our society, but an average Muslim is not a terrorist. He is actually a very peace loving person. I totally blame the media for this because…when I am overseas and I turn on CNN or I turn on BBC…when they show Pakistan they show these dry deserted mountains with men wearing turbans and long beards and holding big machine guns… I’ve never seen that Pakistan.”
“If you come to Pakistan, it’s a very beautiful place, a very modern place. Islamabad is a gorgeous green valley surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains,” Qasim emphasized. “My house is actually right on the edge of the mountains. It’s just a beautiful, gorgeous place, so that whole stereotype, not only of Muslims, but also of certain countries like Pakistan, is completely wrong. Westerners are usually very surprised when they land in Pakistan because that’s not the Pakistan that they’re expecting.”
As you read this you may be lying next to a swimming pool in a community with openly-gay or lesbian elected officials. I am writing in a 24-hour coffee house in Bangkok’s very gay Silom district. In some countries, people seek to give gays and lesbians the death penalty. In Pakistan, it appears that Qasim’s family wealth and status are what keeps him alive in spite of his consequence-defying actions. He concludes, “I maintain my courage and my hope just simply by being positive, thinking positively and living a very positive lifestyle. If I start thinking that I can’t do this and I can’t do that, I’m not going to be able to do anything.”
This column presents stories of courage, strength and hope of individuals worldwide who are passionately involved in the struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered civil rights as well as the battle against HIV/AIDS, demonstrating how these issues are inseparable from the overall fight for human rights for everyone. In addition, the column infuses travel and entertainment reporting into the mix to not only celebrate the freedoms that exist for many of us, but to contrast these freedoms against the dark realities of individuals living in more oppressed situations where sometimes their very lives are at risk. More columns...
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This column, Nicholas Snow's Notes From The World, was conceived out of a longtime collaboration between Nicholas Snow, editor/mentor Mona de Crinis, and The Bottom Line Magazine in Southern California, the "anchor publication" of the print version of this column.
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