Indians Being Homophobic And More

There is a strong intolerance brewing in India. Probably, it was always there, probably I was ignorant about it, but now the frequency by which it makes headlines almost every other day makes me sit up and wonder, what is frikkin' wrong with us? Why are we so hell-bent in intruding other’s personal lives and decisions? By some twisted justification given in the name of ‘honour’, mothers and fathers kill their daughters and sons, brothers take the lives of their sisters and brother-in-laws, and relatives decide the fate of young couples. [link][link][link][link]

What is more shocking is the fact these people have no remorse for their bloody actions and firmly believe what they did was right. I can’t help but look at them with the same lens that I see terrorists who slaughter in the name of ‘jannat’ and take pride about their heinous acts.

Last year's gay parade at New Delhi. Courtesy: Associated Press

Post striking down section 377, it is encouraging to see journalists being more open to writing about homosexuality. On July 2nd, which marked the one year anniversary of the landmark High Court judgement, Indian dailies extensively discussed about matters concerning gays. The stories mostly reflected on the hopes and dreams of millions of Indian gays - to be accepted for what they are without any grudge. Celine Jaitley, the actress and gay rights activist, penned a wonderful piece on Hindustan Times trying to make readers see that this is not just about gay rights, but about human rights. (Read the article here.) But I still get that irking feeling when the word “choice” gets mingled in this whole debate. Deciding which flavour of ice cream one wants is a CHOICE, but to be GAY or STRAIGHT is NOT. Homosexuality and choice do not sit on the same boat. Period!

Though there were numerous articles that touched upon homosexuality very positively, I’m not sure how many got read by those who hold the prejudice. And the reason? The photos used for these articles were supporting the stereotypical beliefs. If I were a homophobe, and I see an article about homosexuality with a snap that enforces my prejudiced believes, would I be challenging myself to see situations differently? May be the transgendered and cross-dressers are more “camera-friendly”, but I feel that the media should resist the temptation of magnifying stereotypes. A picture indeed screams a thousand words and we badly want to see something that we can identify with.

Harish Iyer (centre) with his colleagues at Shobiz. Courtesy: Economic Times

With that said, the above image which appeared on Economic Times for the article that discussed about how things are finally changing for gays in the Indian workplace, was refreshing; thanks to Harish and Bharat Chanda (the photographer).

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