Mr Gay India has pulled out of the Mr Gay World pageant and gone into hiding with his family after receiving threats. Brisbane-based model Thahir Mohammed Sayyed, 28, has told DNA India that he can’t take the pressure and is withdrawing from the contest. He refused to talk about the danger to his family, based in Kochi and Kottayam in India, saying it would only make things worse. DNA says his family was prevented from praying at the local mosque and threatened with ostracism after his entry into the pageant became public. In 2013, India reinstated a colonial-era law against homosexuality. Mr Gay World begins this weekend in South Africa. President Eric Butter says the event was created to combat homophobia. “For a delegate and his family to go through such harassment is unacceptable and we have to be sympathetic with him.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 23rd April 2015 - 10:08am