I have tried my hardest not to get involved in this debate. However comments made by certain individuals known and others lesser known ones have compelled me to weigh in with my own two cents worth.
Firstly, too many people have started out by stating that people should not be concerned with events in a nation thousands of miles away affecting a minority. Many people have been berated for displaying rainbow coloured display pictures. Ironically the same people hurling insults along with many more are stating their disapproval at USA’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage. So basically according to them, they are allowed to comment opposing something happening in a different country in a land far away about a group of people that they have no allegiances to, but criticize others who are commenting in support of the ruling.
Furthermore the same people are quite vocal when it comes to presenting their opinions on other human rights issues in whether it is regarding Burma or Palestine. The argument there may be that they feel a religious affinity towards those populations. Please keep in mind that by that same token there are Pakistanis who might feel an affinity for the homosexual community in the US, either due to their own sexual preference or because a near and dear one might be gay.
Either way at the heart of the issue is basic human rights not sexuality. Whether it is the right to vote by African Americans or the apartheid in South Africa, it all boils down to the denial of basic human rights to a certain group by another group of people. Why should a certain segment of the population be allowed to determine if another part of the populace can exercise their civil liberties? If anything my countrymen should sympathise to such discrimination. We suffered a similar plight during the British Raj. Even today we are treated as second class citizens while working in the UAE or with the new laws concerning citizenship in Canada and other countries.
So when people are showing their support for the gay community in America, it is not about sexuality. It is celebrating a victory for equality. It is celebrating the hope that nobody is considered a lesser human being not just because of their sexual orientation but also for their ethnicity or religious beliefs.
Adarsh Ayaz 