The WaPo writes about a New Yorker who posted this on a gay desi Web site last summer:

“Hi, I am looking for a lesbian girl for marriage. I am gay but I would like to get married because of pressure from parents and society. I would like this marriage to be a ‘normal’ marriage except for the sex part, please don’t expect any sexual relationship from me…”

A marriage of convenience is the perfect solution, Mansoor said. “It’s a great option,” he said. “I get married to a lesbian, we sleep in different rooms and remain friends. Meanwhile, I can have a boyfriend.” [Link]

Wedded under family pressure, check. More friendship than romance, check. How isn’t this just a regular arranged marriage?

“Now that I have a good job and earn handsomely, my family keeps asking, ‘Why don’t you find a wife?’ ” he said. “I plan to have a marriage of convenience just to satisfy the world…”

… “I just finished medical school, and the pressure for me to get married is becoming ridiculous. I can’t have a conversation with my parents without them pressuring me…” [Link]

The imams, of course, don’t see the irony:

Mansoor works as an accountant in New York and is a devout Muslim. He abstains from drinking alcohol or eating pork and is particular about offering early morning prayers…

The face of Imam Omar, a scholar at the Islamic Cultural Center of Manhattan, crinkled with laughter when he was asked about this phenomenon. “These people are Muslims?” he asked. [Link]