Just A Peek

Very little is known about gay life in Brunei, an independent - and very rich - Sultinate.  So little, that it took until now for the University of Brunei Darussalam to present a working paper titled, "Gay in Brunei Darussalam: an intitial observation".

The study is based on a small sampling of 29 gay men, almost half of whom claimed they belonged to "gay clubs" - informal groupings by which they could meet other gay guys or paid money boys $400.00 a pop for sex.  As a predominantly Muslim society, the idea of having an urban gay bar is taboo.  They're not supposed to drink either.  (Years ago when FuelMix flew on Royal Brunei Airlines, they didn't have any alcoholic drinks on board.  Try getting drunk on tomato juice on a night flight and see how irritated you get come sunrise).

Curiously some of the respondents in the sampling said they were "influenced by their friends" to live a gay lifestyle. No idea what the hell that means but presumably it falls somewhere between "gay by design" and "gay by duress".

Still it's an interesting peek into a deeply closeted sub-culture facing a number of constraints.  Check out the article in AsiaOne dated 14 January 2011 entitled Men pay as much as $400 for sexual relations with other men.

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