Sat 5 Jul 2008
Heidi J. Shrager,
San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Aggrieved Indians have long taken their causes to the streets. From Mohandas Gandhi’s nationalist campaigns to contemporary marches against racy movies, protests are as Indian as spicy curry.
But one group, despite its large size, has long kept silent. That silence broke Sunday, when gays and lesbians found their voice in three major cities - New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore - in the first large public display of gay pride India has ever seen.
“Up until now, we’ve been in the public space protesting a violation, or someone being beaten up,” said Gautam Bhan, 28, one of the New Delhi parade organizers. “Now we feel like we have enough of a foothold to celebrate a positive presence.”
While the U.S. gay-rights movement has progressed to the wedding altar, Indian activists are still fighting for decriminalization of gay sex. Efforts to reform a 19th century law banning homosexuality are galvanizing the gay community as it fights for reforms in a country where arranged marriages are still the norm.
The struggle seeks to shake loose the calcified values of an ancient civilization, most observers say. Hindu scriptures say marriage and children are sacred duties that must be performed before a man can own property, perform religious rituals or “indulge his senses.” And since sons carry on the family name and add their wives’ dowries to their family coffers, sons are prized over daughters.
In their book “Same-Sex Love in India,” authors Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwa wrote that homosexuality was generally tolerated in precolonial India as long as it didn’t get in the way of the above-mentioned duties.
Gay activists say they see hope for change in the larger-than-expected turnouts in Sunday’s parades as well as a growing number of realistic portrayals in films and books. The Internet has spurred much of the change, they say, as people flood chat rooms and online communities to learn about club nights, drop-in centers and support groups. A push in HIV/AIDS prevention is also bringing the subject of homosexuality into schools and communities.
Representatives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community unfurl a rainbow-colored cloth during a “Rainbow Pride Walk” in Calcutta, Sunday. Associated Press photo by Bikas Das
In New Delhi, hundreds of marchers yelled “Gay! Lesbian! Bisexual! Transgender!” while brandishing rainbow flags and signs bearing messages such as “Delhi Be Proud,” and “My Sister is Gay” during the peaceful parade corralled through a phalanx of police. Organizers handed out rainbow-colored masks to those fearing the wrath of family members, employers or landlords.
Most onlookers watched with mild curiosity as the procession swirled past them. Conservative and Hindu fundamentalist groups steered clear of the events in an attempt to minimize public attention.
“We’ve heard about this in other parts of the world where this takes place,” said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of India’s leading Hindu nationalist political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. “This type of parade, people of India will not accept in a good way. … It’s an unnatural thing.”
Though the crowd grew bolder and rowdier by the mile, the march proved tame by San Francisco standards; most people dressed conservatively, with the exception of a handful of hijras, or transsexuals, who wore sparkling saris.
Sporting a porkpie hat and eyeliner, Prosenjit Banerjee said he recently told his parents about his sexual identity as a woman trapped in a man’s body. “The whole concept is new for them,” said the 28-year-old New Delhi resident. “They were shocked to know about all these things.”
Coming out can be wrenching in any culture, but it is especially difficult in India.
A 22-year-old woman who opted for the mask said she was arrested last year for attempting suicide - a crime in India - after she was forced by her parents to split from her girlfriend. The two had been on the run after their parents threatened to kill them. They were tracked down with help from police, who - according to activists - often assume the role of moral guardians when women are concerned.
In fact, homosexuality has been driven so far underground that same-sex couples are often spared harassment because the possibility they might be gay doesn’t occur to many Indians. Men routinely hold hands or walk arm-in-arm in a country where contact between boys and girls before marriage is sharply frowned upon.
“They don’t really understand what we’re doing,” said a mild-mannered 25-year-old software engineer whose face was hidden under a handkerchief, speaking of herself and her similarly veiled girlfriend. “They just think we’re best friends, hanging out. It’s time people know that we are more than friends.”
As the couple rejoined the parade, they raised a sign high in the air. In bold red letters it read: “Give me support; I want to take off my mask.”
Anti-sodomy law
India’s anti-sodomy law, known as statute No. 377, was enacted by the British colonial government in 1861. It describes homosexuality as acts “against the order of nature.”
Even though activists say consensual adults are rarely charged under the statute, they say that police regularly wield the law to harass and blackmail gays and lesbians, employers use it to fire gay workers, and under it, doctors can refuse to treat them. No. 377 also restricts such legal rights as inheritance laws, child custody and hospital visits to see an ailing partner.
In the past 12 years, the fledgling Indian gay rights movement has united around two very different events: the 1996 release of the Indian film “Fire” and the imprisonment of four HIV/AIDS workers in 2001.
“Fire” is about a love affair between two women trapped in unhappy marriages. The movie’s release sparked violent protests between Hindu fundamentalists demanding it be banned and gay activists insisting the film be screened. In 1999, the national Censor Board reversed the ban, allowing a short run in art houses.
In 2001, four men working for an HIV/AIDS prevention group were arrested in the northern city of Lucknow for distributing flyers on safe sex. Charged with violating No. 377 for possessing so-called obscene materials, the health workers were imprisoned for 41 days, igniting the gay rights movement’s first nationwide protests.
Also in 2001, rights lawyers challenged No. 377 in the Delhi High Court, arguing its tenets are unconstitutional when applied to consenting adults. The case is now in final arguments, and a decision is expected by the end of the year.
E-mail Heidi J. Shrager at foreign@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle
