Pakistan blocks 'un-Islamic' first gay website

Islamabad, Sept 27: Deemed as "un-Islamic", the conservative Muslim nation Pakistan on Thursday blocked access to its first website designed to help gay people meet and support each other.

Pakistan's first website called www.queerpk.com was opened in July this year for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people to share views and network.

On Thursday, the website confirmed it had been shut by Pakistan's telecoms authority in an emailed statement, "The government would ban anything that is progressive and talks about the rights of minorities. The government does such things to appease the extreme-right all the time."

Kamran Ali, the spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) told AFP, "We blocked the website under the law because its content was against Islam and norms of Pakistani society."

Fearing "negative reaction", Queerpk.com's moderator told the agency that they would not challenge the ban in the courts. According to the website, 44% users were females and 56% users were males.

However, the website can be accessed outside Pakistan and features the slogan "Don't hate us, know us!"

The website can be accessed outside Pakistan

In a staunchly conservative country like Pakistan, being homosexual is considered as illegal and un-Islamic.

Earlier also, Pakistan has blocked undesirable pages, websites like Facebook and YouTube.

OneIndia News

(With agency inputs)