[LINK] "Bring on the Indian Stonewall"
Kaj Hasselriis's article in Canada's Xtra
"The gay community in India is in its 'flower power' phase," a fag in Delhi told me the other night. In other words, the country's homos are still too busy fucking to get political.
After four months travelling around India, I think he's got a point. It's extremely easy to get laid, but nearly impossible to get people mobilized to fight for their rights.
Big cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai are starting to organize Pride marches, but so far they're modest events that aren't generating action and results throughout the rest of the year. Meanwhile, homosexuality remains illegal and HIV rates among gay men are higher than any other group.
It's not like some activists aren't trying. In Mumbai, Nitin Karani is organizing bi-weekly gay film screenings for the queer rights NGO Humsafar Trust, while Vikram Phukan works at resurrecting India's queer mag, Bombay Dost. Further north, in Delhi, India's most senior queer rabble-rouser, Ashok Row Kavi, is coordinating the anti-HIV battle on behalf of UNAIDS.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalizes gay sex. But like the rest of India, the gay community remains sharply divided along class lines. The middle and upper classes are mostly working together for their own benefit, while the vast lower class remains relatively uneducated and marginalized.
What Indian queers need is their own Stonewall, an event that galvanizes everyone to come together as one. The Pride parades are fun, but homos won't get the hetero majority's attention until they raise their fists in the air, shout "We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore" and force the country to openly acknowledge other forms of sexual pleasure. Or, at the very least, start a sharply-worded letter-writing campaign.
While I agree with Hasselriis' sentiments, some of them seem possibly condescending towards India and Indians. Also, I've absolutely no idea how GLBT issues fit into modern Indian life. Help?
"The gay community in India is in its 'flower power' phase," a fag in Delhi told me the other night. In other words, the country's homos are still too busy fucking to get political.
After four months travelling around India, I think he's got a point. It's extremely easy to get laid, but nearly impossible to get people mobilized to fight for their rights.
Big cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai are starting to organize Pride marches, but so far they're modest events that aren't generating action and results throughout the rest of the year. Meanwhile, homosexuality remains illegal and HIV rates among gay men are higher than any other group.
It's not like some activists aren't trying. In Mumbai, Nitin Karani is organizing bi-weekly gay film screenings for the queer rights NGO Humsafar Trust, while Vikram Phukan works at resurrecting India's queer mag, Bombay Dost. Further north, in Delhi, India's most senior queer rabble-rouser, Ashok Row Kavi, is coordinating the anti-HIV battle on behalf of UNAIDS.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalizes gay sex. But like the rest of India, the gay community remains sharply divided along class lines. The middle and upper classes are mostly working together for their own benefit, while the vast lower class remains relatively uneducated and marginalized.
What Indian queers need is their own Stonewall, an event that galvanizes everyone to come together as one. The Pride parades are fun, but homos won't get the hetero majority's attention until they raise their fists in the air, shout "We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore" and force the country to openly acknowledge other forms of sexual pleasure. Or, at the very least, start a sharply-worded letter-writing campaign.
While I agree with Hasselriis' sentiments, some of them seem possibly condescending towards India and Indians. Also, I've absolutely no idea how GLBT issues fit into modern Indian life. Help?