CSB : India's Premier Straight

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.

[Image] Crazy Sam's Bloginess: Delhi Gay Pride 2009

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 Deciding which flavour of ice cream one wants is a CHOICE, but to be GAY or STRAIGHT is NOT!

Deciding which flavour of ice cream one wants is a CHOICE, but to be GAY or STRAIGHT is NOT!

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.

[Image] Crazy Sam's Bloginess: Harish Iyer

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).

Check out these related posts too!
The New Face Of Indian Homophobia
An Equal Love
The Right To Do "I Do"

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The Look-Alike

"Hey.. You look exactly like one of my friends!”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, you so totally look identical to him. Where are you from?”
“I’m from this city.”
“Are you sure you don’t have any relatives in Kerala?”
“No, why?”
“Just checking whether you are even remotely related to my friend.”

[Image] Crazy Sam's Bloginess: Look-Alike

When they say there could be seven people out there who might be having identical faces, it feels weird when you bump into one who looks like a carbon copy of someone you know; except that this guy was chubbier and had coloured piercings on his left eyebrow. But his smile is oh-so-totally just like my friend’s.

I should have chatted with him, but I didn’t.
Then I could have exchanged numbers with him, but I didn’t.
And I could have clicked snaps with him, but I didn’t. It would have been fun showing them to my friend and to see him flip out. And so yeah, the above conversation is just another ideated one among the many could’ves-should’ves-would’ves that echo in my head.

At the 'Parents and Relatives (of gays) Meet' organised by Gay Bombay, it was good to see fathers also among the higher number of mothers. The discussion steered towards how parents can be offered assistance in their process of coming in terms with the truth that their son/daughter is gay, which led to taking an initiative of forming an Indian PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays), similar to the one that exists in US (www.pflag.org). But the highpoint of the meet for me was when a mother shared her experience - when her son came out to her, she took her son and his boyfriend for dinner that night to celebrate!

You can read the full report of the 'Parents and Relatives Meet' here.

By the way, do you think it is a coincidence that I get to read this soon after the look-alike-encounter? (Click on the pic to get a readable version.)