A Pakistani man who sought to launch what would have been the country’s first gay club, in order to speak up for the “most neglected community,” has been placed in a mental health facility, according to a report.

The man, whose name has not been made public, had earlier submitted a formal request to the deputy commissioner (DC) to open a gay club in Abbottabad, a deeply conservative city best known internationally as the place where Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

In his application, the man said the proposed venue, provisionally titled the ‘Lorenzo Gay Club’, would be a “great convenience and resource for many homosexual, bisexual and even some heterosexual people residing in Abbottabad in particular, and in other parts of the country in general,” The Telegraph reported.

Same-sex relations are illegal in Pakistan and can result in prison sentences of up to two years. Although such laws are rarely enforced, Pakistan’s strongly religious and conservative social climate has made it extremely difficult for people to live openly as gay, the outlet noted.

The application also made clear that in the planned club “there would be no gay (or non-gay) sex (other than kissing).” It said a notice would be displayed on the wall warning against “sex on premises.”

“This would mean that no legal constraints (even obsolete ones like [anti-sodomy] PPC section 377) would be flouted on the premises,” it added.

Before he was sent to a mental hospital in Peshawar, the man told the publication, “I talk about human rights and I want everyone’s human rights to be defended”.

He said he would demand a written response from officials if his request was denied. “I have started the ‘struggle for the rights of the most neglected community in Pakistan’ and will continue to raise his voice in every forum,” he said.

“If the authorities refuse, then I will approach the court and I hope that like the Indian court, the Pakistani court will rule in favour of gay people,” The Telegraph quoted him as saying.

The DC office in Abbottabad confirmed that it had received the application and that it was being reviewed like any other proposal. But the man’s effort quickly unraveled after his petition was leaked on social media, sparking outrage from local residents as well as politicians in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.