Pakistan internet users top Google searches for gay sex despite being one of the world's most

homophobic countries
Survey shows only 2 per cent think society should accept homosexuality Google gives Pakistan a 100 rating in trends analysis of internet searches
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 17:25 GMT, 15 June 2013 | UPDATED: 17:30 GMT, 15 June 2013

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Pakistan has the highest volume of internet searches for gay pornography despite being one of the least tolerant countries when it comes to homosexuality. The most searches for terms related to same-sex acts came from a conservative stronghold, the city of Peshawar, rather than major cosmopolitan cities such as Lahore and Karachi, according to analysis of Google trends by Mother Jones. Pakistan was given a rating of 100 by the search engine for having the highest search traffic for the pornography terms.

Global acceptance of homosexuality

Gay sex is illegal in the Islamic country and carries a sentence of two to ten years in prison if caught. This week, the Pew Research Center revealed figures for the places that are most intolerant of homosexuality from a survey of 39 countries. Only two per cent of Pakistanis surveyed said 'yes' to the question: 'Should society accept homosexuality?' Other countries who showed a low tolerance for homosexuality included Nigeria, with 1 per cent approval, Tunisia at 2 per cent, while Ghana, Senegal, Egypt, Jordan and Indonesia showed only 3 per cent approval. Spain showed the highest acceptance of homosexuality at 88 per cent, followed by Germany at 87 per cent, the Czech Republic and Canada at 80 per cent, Australia at 79 per cent, France at 77 per cent and Britain at 76 per cent. One expert on Pakistani minorities told Mother Jones that highly observant Muslim men are known to have physical relationships with other men - but do not consider themselves gay.

The highest volume of searches for gay porn in Pakistan came from the conservative city of Peshawar

'The real love they can have that most of us find with a partner, they find with men,' said former Pakistani politician Farahnaz Ispahani, now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 'They mostly see their wives as the mother of their children.' She said an increase in religious extremism could explain the popularity of gay porn. 'Hindus are being forced to convert, Christians are being burned alive - there's very little personal safety for those seen as "the other". So what do [gay Pakistanis] do? They turn to pornography because they can't live their lives openly.'

Read more: Mother Jones: Why Is Gay Porn So Popular in Pakistan?

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Comments (88)
Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all If it's naughty, then it's hot-ty. Isn't forbidden fruit always the sweetest? - Wondercat , London, United Kingdom, 15/6/2013 20:54 Click to rate Report abuse "Google gives Pakistan a 100 rating in trends analysis of internet searches" -- "Trend analysis"? Haha. Trend analysis, my foot. Google works with the government to keep a track of everything we do on the Internet. Don't let silly headlines like this distract you from that fact. - Somewhere over here , Mississauga, 15/6/2013 20:53 Click to rate Report abuse Meanwhile, there's no top headline on here about "25 people being killed in Pakistan, including 11 women being killed in a single bus bomb" just today. Goes to show what sorts of things WE "search" for, less actual important news and more Kardashian? - Somewhere over here , Mississauga, 15/6/2013 20:51 Rating 142 Rating 113

Click to rate Report abuse

Rating 267

I for one am not in the least surprised by this. Scratch beneath the surface of all the religious hypocrisy there and this is what you find. - pete , on a train, 15/6/2013 20:48 Click to rate Report abuse As with many strict religions it's a matter of "don't do what I do but do what I say or you will burn in hell. - Jimmy the Two , Worcester, United Kingdom, 15/6/2013 20:47 Click to rate Report abuse Reason why we don't need to search online/in private for this sort of information in our Western countries -- because its freely available in our media, on our TV, and in our school education. - Somewhere over here , Mississauga, 15/6/2013 20:44 Click to rate Report abuse When I was in Pakistan it was clear that men were very confused and ignorant about sex. Tens of millions of pakistanis are homosexual men and women but it is done under cover...like in other muslim countries as Islam is ostensibly homophobic...a desperate and disturbed psychology emerges which fuels extremism - Goldstein , London, United Kingdom, 15/6/2013 20:43 Click to rate Report abuse And aren't young people the most heavy Internet users? It's a comforting thought how similar we are, rather than different. No matter what country, everywhere, young people are the same. The more the government/adults tell them something is wrong/taboo (without offering any substantiated logical proof of it), the more that these young people become curious to find out information about what's so wrong with it. - Somewhere over here , Mississauga, 15/6/2013 20:42 Click to rate Report abuse Rubbish because hardly anyone has a proper Internet connection there in Peshawar - LFC 4 LIFE , Unknown, 15/6/2013 20:41 Click to rate Report abuse That's because the most homophobic of people are the ones in denial. - charlottefields , somewhere, 15/6/2013 20:40 Click to rate Rating 246 Rating 97 Rating 50 Rating 494 Rating 55 Rating 157 Rating 363

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