Queer British/Asian journalist Reeta Loi was ostracized by her family when she ‘came out’ to them. She claims it also robbed her of contact with her extended family and friends and her Asian culture. As she was keen on dating within her community and the pickings were lean to say the least, she decided to sign up with The Arranged Gay Marriage Bureau,
Based in India, they offered a global service for LGBTQ men and women who respected their culture’s tradition of having a marriage arranged for them by their parents. Stepping into the parents shoes, the Bureau offered to find other Asian gay men and women suitable lifetime partners unlike any other gay dating site.
Wearing her journalist’s hat the very charming Loi made some video calls to Urvi Shah the Bureau’s heterosexual Founder in India who enthusiastically chatted about her staff of 24 assisting some 3700 clients worldwide and her exceptional success rate. For $300 she promised that she could find a perfect match for Loi.
At the same time Keith one of Loi’s friends also signed up to the Bureau as he wanted them to find a Punjabi gay man to possibly his future husband. It was hard not to share their enthusiasm as both he and Loi thought this maybe finally the chance to find the perfect life partner.
It took many months of little or zero inactivity before their initial excitement started to wan, and then disappear completely. it took time, and a little bit of digging to realise that there was not one iota of truth in any of Shah’s claims or statements. If that was not bad enough, when Loi finally reached her again, she still clung rigidly to her pack of lies and denied all of the evidence.
Loi’s touching eye-opening film made for VICE actually makes you feel much angrier than she and Keith appear to especially because http://www.arrangedgaymarriage.com/ is still in existence and still preying on unsuspecting Asian queer men and women.
Labels: 2020, documentary, Same Sex Marriage, scam, Vice
