This Pride Month, Be an Ally. Celebrate Pride Proudly.
As corporations in one part of the world (the West) bombard us with rainbow flags and messages of platitudes, many, on this side of the globe, tend to miss the fight and determination behind the great cause of celebration.
Decades of struggle led to the recognition of the era, which can very well be termed a reign of terror, where even living a healthy life was a question of “chance” for a substantial and essential part of the human population — the LGBTQI+ community.
This is a brief look into the way many human beings amongst us who belong to the LGBTQI+ community lived until the end of the 20th century (and continue to do so).
The Polite Change of Today Started With a Tumultuous Uprising
Today, polite society recognises the injustice and ignorance that we have subjected our fellow human beings to. For a long time, people from the LGBTQI+ community have sought to claim their identity and be recognised as comfortable in their own skin — “Queer and Proud”. This pride burst upon the Western world stage in 1969 with the Stonewall Riots in Manhattan, New York City. Every year since, Pride Month is celebrated as an expression of self-consciousness and celebration of the community.
In India, there is a long tradition of queer identity and behaviour. But, as is the situation with many Indian minority identities, queer identity is tolerated in the fringes of society rather than directly interacted with, let alone celebrated. The belated act of decriminalisation of same-sex relationships itself did not happen until 2018, less than three years ago, which occurred by judicial fiat rather than legislative action. The country has yet to recognise same-sex relationships legally, and that day is nowhere near in sight.
COVID-19 and its unequal impact on the Indian LGBTQI+ Community
As we undergo a brutal second wave of COVID-19 in India, the stark discrimination faced by “othering” the LGBTQI+ community is made acutely tragic, with Indians of the community being unable to have hospitalisation rights as their loved ones are battling between life and death.
Pride representation in Indian pop culture — is it becoming for the community?
Representations of communities in popular culture — from literature to cinema — influence the real-life of the people belonging to that community. In the Indian media, egregious depictions of the queer community have formed harmful stereotypes in peoples’ mind.
The problematic image of an “effeminate”, “sex-crazed man” who knows no boundaries is a trope closely and wrongly followed in Bollywood films to portray the community in a bad light. This has caused irreparable harm to ordinary people of the LGBTQI+ identity.
The total absence and misrepresentation of lesbian women in the pulp media have formed troublesome notions that just feed into the male gaze and toxic, misogynistic sexual conduit. While the representation is a little better for transgender persons, their actual and true-life depiction leaves much to be desired.
Change is happening, it is just that it’s happening too slow.
The picture portraying the LGBTQI+ individuality might not be totally bleak as societal changes are happening, albeit at a glacial pace. Urban and upward moving Indians are becoming more and more liberal as they are influenced by English language media.
As the world, especially Indian pop culture, tends to follow the American and European traits of pulp fiction and media, now would be a good time for the Indian society to get influenced by the progressive western agenda of recognising the humanity of the LGBTQI+ pride.
It is incumbent upon the Indian people to first adopt, adapt, unlearn and relearn the life stories of their fellow humans; the law will catch up sooner or later. Society should move faster than the statute book- this way, the change will be genuine.
Pride Insight(s)
Franklin Edward Kameny was an American gay rights activist. He has been referred to as “one of the most significant figures” in the American gay rights movement.
In its commemorations of Pride Month, Google depicted the legendary Frank Kameny in its doodle for Pride Month. Kameny fought a battle of nearly half a century in the US for gay rights.
Taking a page out of Kameny’s half-century-long struggle, Indians should not have to wait and fight this long. We can learn faster to correct historical and societal wrongs by collective consciousness and determination for humanity and equality.
Views are the writer’s own and do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of Volunteers Collective. Volunteers Collective is a staunch ally of the LGBTQI+ community and supports the advocacy for equal rights for all.
Written by Adarsh B. Adarsh is a member of Volunteers Collective and a contributor to the collective’s publishing platform.
