Recently, a Pakistani musician Ali Sethi raised the issue of LGBTQ representation in Pakistan through his Instagram post to mark the end of Pride month; Sethi is thought to be saying he is gay.
Sethi’s recent statement for this year’s LGBTQ pride parade has bee interpreted by many as an implication that he might be queer: “However, that very thing which makes you look different shall one day become your source of immense beauty and strength.”
There have been speculations about Sethi’s sexual orientation for years. This is however supposedly his first open comment on the same. The photo was accompanied by this caption: “Hi little one. I know it’s hard sometimes when they tell you to not be you, but the very thing that makes you different will become a source of tremendous beauty and power. love awaits #happypride.”
This message was deeply felt by fans who saw it as a tacit validation of his identity. While not exactly an admission, this post with its timing and specific language has bee widely seen as such. Additionally, there was #happypride hashtag which confirmed this assumption further. This indeed created an online war on social media pages. Even though some people are criticizing him being a celebrity, others are applauding him for his post.
Ali Sethi is a Pakistani artist who sings, writes songs, composes music, and also authors books (Khan). A trained classical singer, he gained fame after debuting at Coke Studio Pakistan during Season 8 (Ali). He worked on songs for movies like The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013) and Manto (2015). It wasn’t until 2019 that he performed alone at Carnegie Hall where he sang solo numbers only (Afridi). He is currently recording with Noah Georgeson.
He had gained popularity over time. Nonetheless in 2020 following ‘Pasoori’ with Shae Gill; something that earned them unimaginable success. In 2022, the song was the most searched on Google (Punjabi Tadka). Some of his popular tracks include ‘Ranjish Hi Sahi,’ ‘Chan Kithan,’ ‘Ishq’ and ‘Chandni Raat’ among many others. His new EP called Paniya came out last year. He appeared at Coachella Valley Festival in 2023.
