Two faces

America 1970:- “I am proud of my GAY son,” proclaimed a mother marching with her son during a peaceful Gay Pride parade.

India 2008:- “Centre against legalising homosexuality,” reads the headline of one of countries leading newspapers.

My first target is ARTICLE 377. The centre has once again opposed a petition filed by gay right activists claiming that gay sex between two consenting adults amounts to crime under section 377. It is defined as unnatural. What is unnatural? Curbing fundamental rights of an individual in unnatural, his/her right to express is unnatural and most importantly curbing the right to live freely is unnatural. India never fails to sing praises of its democratic approach but aren’t we discriminating against a population of people who have been robbed off their freedom of being themselves? Besides nobody has been given the authority to decide what is natural and unnatural. My only problem with this is how can one be differentiated on the grounds of sex?

My second target is Karran (Don’t really care about your smartass spelling) Joharrrrr. Agreed he was looking for a window to vent out his angst and feelings but he should have been a little sensitive while doing so. God save us from his next venture Dostana (let’s plan a nationwide ban). Popular cinema has been mean and bitchy against homosexuals and in my opinion all these directors should be sued. It surprises me how could we even tolerate such nonsense on screen. The only sane portrayal of a gay character in a Hindi film was by Onir in My Brother Nikhil.

Gone are the days when homosexuals in our country had to live an alternate life, a claustrophobic life, a life that could never satisfy them. I see more and more people coming out of the closet and more importantly taking pride in their identity. It’s a difficult to be someone else on the inside and put up an act for the world. This existence of pretence and shame may even result in dangerous consequences. For instance the Kandivili boy who hanged himself from a ceiling fan and left behind a note saying he was ashamed of being gay.

In spite of two successful Gay Parades in Delhi and Mumbai, a very large section of the society is still unaware of this issue; it needs rigorous media coverage to initiate a nationwide debate. A few years’ back media strongly supported prevention of AIDS and the same amount of awareness needs to be generated about gay rights. Conservatives need to be gagged and a rational outlook towards this sensitive issue needs to be developed.