First Openly Baloch Gay in the World

My ancestral homeland in southwest Asia, Balochistan –land of the Baloch--, also has the dubious distinction of being the land of the Islamic Bomb. It was there, in southwestern Pakistan, that a nuclear device was tested in May 1998. Most Americans may not have heard the name, Balochistan, a France-sized territory that the British colonialists left divided among Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Though extremely rich in resources and having a sexy strategic location as the northern lip of the Straits of Hormuz, the majority of its inhabitants belong to 200-plus Baloch tribes who eke out a living herding goats. Some are still nomads, wandering the region's huge expanses with their camels. I come from the Gorgej-- grave diggers-, a Baloch tribe that spans the Balochistan areas of all three countries.  Fleeing poverty and hunger, my grandfathers — my parents were first cousins — and their two brothers left their homes in Bahu Kalat in what later became the Iranian part of Balo