According to this story, the hyper-strict social and legal restrictions on male-female contact in Afghanistan have led to an increase in opportunistic homosexuality. I don’t think that’s what they intended …
But a visitor who comments on such things is likely to be told they are not signs of homosexuality. Hugging doesn’t mean sex, locals insist. Men who use kohl and henna are simply “uneducated.”
Regardless, when asked directly, few deny that a significant percentage of men in this region have sex with men and boys. Just ask Mullah Mohammed Ibrahim, a local cleric.
“Ninety percent of men have the desire to commit this sin,” the mullah says. “But most are right with God and exercise control. Only 20 to 50% of those who want to do this actually do it.”
(Via JillMatrix)