Local radio host had to leave his native Pakistan to live as an openly gay man

Local radio host had to leave his native Pakistan to live as an openly gay man
Ifti Nasim says he knew he was gay when he was four years old.
Local radio host had to leave his native Pakistan to live as an openly gay man
Ifti Nasim says he knew he was gay when he was four years old.

Local radio host had to leave his native Pakistan to live as an openly gay man

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Ifti Nasim left Pakistan more than 30 years ago because he wanted to live life as an openly gay man.  He came to Chicago and joined the gay movement here. Nasim’s now the host of a local South Asian radio show. He’s also the co-founder of SANGAT/Chicago, a South Asian lesbian, gay and transgender organization. Nasim’s book of poems, “Narman,” was the first book of gay-themed poetry to be published in the Urdu language.

Nasim tells us about a lifetime spent trying to change the way South Asians view homosexuals, both in the local community here in Chicago and in his native Pakistan.