Indian gays show pride in first parade

[lonelywombat]

In another thread several people have questioned the value of gay activists. All of the freedoms we have today flow from the ideals that a few took action to highlight how the gay community was poorly treated
Cut and Paste from Melbourne Age

Indian gays show pride in first parade



June 30, 2008 - 9:03AM [23.04GMT]

Gays, lesbians and transvestites took to the streets of three major Indian cities in the first nationally coordinated pride marches aimed at overturning a law forbidding homosexuality.

In Kolkata in the east, about 400 people took part in the city's annual Gay Pride parade on Sunday, drawing curious stares from thousands of onlookers lining the roads to watch the procession.

Ringed by an equal number of police, the marchers set off on a 4km walk in the heart of the city, holding banners and placards with slogans demanding recognition and rights.

"More of the youth are coming out to join groups of gays and lesbians in the city," Pawan Dhall, one of the organisers of the parade, told AFP.

But the fear of being ostracised was still evident among a section of marchers who preferred to wear masks to conceal their identity.

In New Delhi, where gays, lesbians and transgendered individuals have never attempted a public march, about 300 people gathered for a 2km walk in the heart of the capital.

"I am wearing a mask because of several reasons - social pressure, the reservations of friends, family," said a young gay student who asked his name not be published.

"The prejudices of society are as strong as ever. If I were to uncover my face, my parents would have to face the heat."

Activist Pramada Menon said she was overwhelmed by the response of the public.

"This is one of the very, very few occasions when we have not been booed or been cursed at," Menon said.

"Though the perception is changing, it remains a largely upper class phenomenon. People like me can afford to come clean and take a stand.

"Those who are poor are still killing themselves because of 'abnormalities' that they and their families cannot understand or cope with."

The southern technology hub of Bangalore also saw its first-ever gay pride parade.

As in Kolkata and New Delhi, some of the 600 participants wore masks to conceal their faces while others wore fancy clothes to draw public attention in the cosmopolitan city, home to many Indian and international IT companies.

A British colonial-era provision in Indian law prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature", and activists say this allows authorities to treat gay people like criminals.

Under the statute, known as Section 377, unlawful sex is punishable by a fine and a 10-year prison term.

Activists say that while few people are arrested or convicted under the law, many gays and lesbians prefer not to come out.

"We want to say that we, too, like all the others in society, have the right to express ourselves freely," said 30-year-old Ranjit Sinha, who participated in the Kolkata parade for the fourth consecutive year.

"We wanted to tell everybody on the streets, people of all ages who watched the parade, that gays and lesbians are a part of the society, that we are as productive as others in society," he added.

Rights activists say the first attempt at a truly nationwide event, though small by any standards, shows India has come a long way since 1999, when just a tiny handful of people made the first attempt at a pride march in Kolkata.

"We will not stop till we get rid of section 377 of the Indian code of law," Siddarth Narrain, a lawyer and activist of the group named Good As You or GAY, told AFP.

Gay pride events are traditionally held around June 27 to commemorate the riots that broke out in 1969 in New York City's Greenwich Village after police raided a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn.

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Glad to be gay (but a bit shy about it)
Jul 3rd 2008 | DELHI
From The Economist print edition

Where Victorian values and repressive laws still hold
Out of the closet, at least

THERE were no half-naked dancers, pink floats, or sailor boys locked in clinches; but IndiaтАЩs gay-pride parade was ground-breaking enough without them. Several hundred men and women, waving rainbow flags, danced, stamped and sang their way through the city centres of Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata (Calcutta) on June 29thтАФthe first such national event in this conservative country. The parade was lent a uniquely Indian flavour by flamboyant cross-dressing hijras, known as eunuchs, although many modern hijras are gay men who feel alienated by mainstream society. Though hijras, once trusted courtiers of the Mughal emperors, have a well-established identity in India, gay men and women do not; indeed the practice of homosexuality is illegal, punishable with ten yearsтАЩ imprisonment.

Many of those who paraded under heavy monsoon clouds in Delhi said one of their main motives was to campaign for the repeal of that law, Section 377 of IndiaтАЩs penal code, which deems homosexuality an тАЬunnatural sexual offenceтАЭ alongside bestiality. They say the section, drawn up 150 years ago by the British, is today routinely used by the police to harass and blackmail homosexuals, even if few are arrested. DelhiтАЩs High Court is currently weighing a petition against Section 377 brought by an umbrella group of Indian NGOs. тАЬI feel weтАЩre living under the shadow of the Victorians,тАЭ shuddered one young man, as beside him a group of hijras in hot pink saris broke into Bollywood-style pelvic thrusts. He might have added that he was also living under the shadow of his mother, who, he feared, would soon start introducing him to suitable girls. тАЬI suppose then I will have to come out.тАЭ

Despite a burgeoning gay scene in IndiaтАЩs big cities, many Indian homosexuals worry more about exposure to their families and colleagues than about the law. тАЬMy brother knows; my mother doesnтАЩt,тАЭ says Pankash, a 23-year-old year-old student who likes to be known as Tina when he goes on dates dressed as his glamorous alter ego. Though he was not incognito on Sunday, many of his fellow paraders were. Waving placards with slogans such as тАЬGay and loving itтАЭ, many still wore paper masks, lest they were тАЬoutedтАЭ on television.

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/Pri ... d=11671139

Section 377 has been used as often in India as Section 28 was in the UK. Those who are openly gay scarcely get a second glance, socially or at work, even if they are the "flamboyant ... hijras" who would put even the most outrageous of Thai katoeys to shame - how many countries have transvestites as elected mayors or MPs, for example?.

As the Economist reported, it is not the police, the establishment or business or peer groups which are "anti-gay" but parents who still see arranged marriages, etc, as the only way. As has been pointed out elsewhere (though not in connection with India) this is "[i]not a gay issue[/i]", although inevitably some like to make it one.

[Brad the Impala]

Section 377 has been used as often in India as Section 28 was in the UK. Those who are openly gay scarcely get a second glance, socially or at work, even if they are the "flamboyant ... hijras" who would put even the most outrageous of Thai katoeys to shame - how many countries have transvestites as elected mayors or MPs, for example?.

As the Economist reported, it is not the police, the establishment or business or peer groups which are "anti-gay" but parents who still see arranged marriages, etc, as the only way. As has been pointed out elsewhere (though not in connection with India) this is "[i]not a gay issue[/i]", although inevitably some like to make it one.

Legislation that deems homosexuals as deviant and unnatural should be changed, isn't that a given?

The question of how often that legislation is used is another issue, or how effective that legislation is, is another issue.