Rohit K Dasgupta
It’s been almost a decade since Shivananda Khan founded Naz project London. It was conceived as a safe space for South Asian queer men to meet and socialise. Since then the South Asian queer community has grown by leaps and bounds.
London has always had a very accommodating nature when it comes to ethnic and racial diversity. South Asians have flocked to this city from various parts of UK and some from various other parts of the world. London is also one of the most queer-friendly cities in the world and this has been and added reason for the vast number of South Asian queer identified men and women living here.
One of the men interviewed for this article claimed that moving to London was the next step for him. Having grown up in UK in what was a predominantly South Asian neighbourhood it wasn’t very easy for him to come to terms with his sexuality or even being able to acknowledge it in fear of social and familial backlash. It was only possible for him to express himself when he moved to this vibrant city.
Another respondent claimed that he first moved to London from India some seven years back to study but when he saw how easier it was for him to have his sexuality accepted he decided to stay back and work. He says, ‘Back in India, I used to be teased and called “Ladies Ladies” by passersby, at first I took it all but then when I moved here I decided I really did not need to go back to a country where I would be treated as a third grade citizen and so I just stayed back.’
UK decriminalised homosexuality decades ago, and even introduced Civil partnership Act for same sex couples in 2005, however its post colonial neighbour, India decided to hold on to this archaic Victorian law until last year. But legalising homosexuality has not made things hunky dory for Indians living here. Often it’s the social and religious pressures which do not allow them to express their sexuality. Growing up or living in predominantly South Asian neighbourhoods it is often difficult express one’s sexuality. Many fear that the community will not accept them or this will lead to problems in housing and jobs. Even though there are legal implications against homophobia and being discriminated on grounds of sexuality, many fear this will lead to opening a can of worms, something they are afraid of. It is still a popular belief that ‘gay-ness’ is West born and something ‘un-Indian’, ‘un-nationalistic’ and hence it cannot be made a part of the rich fabric of ‘Indian-ness’.
Despite the rocky path still deluding the Indian queer, things have definitely progressed. Club Kali has been providing popular South Asian Bollywood music for the South Asian queer community in London and has seen party-goers coming from as far as Scotland just to celebrate their sexuality ‘with other desis’. More recently two new Clubs have come up to provide a safe Queer space for party goers- Urban Desi and Habibi, a testimony to the growing South Asian queer populace in London. Most recently the South Asian queer population came out in throes at the London Gay Pride 2010 and provided further visibility for this community.
While many of the respondents for this article were happy going out on the mainstream gay scene, some were very sceptical. They have claimed that the mainstream gay scene is sometimes not as accommodating. They are racially segregated and often name called. One of the respondents think that this might be a cultural clash and often the Indian mechanism of deep rooted scepticism kicks in. “When I told my friends I like white boys, they looked at me in disbelief, as if I was in some way deceiving them or being untrue to my roots. I have never felt any form prejudice or discrimination from the mainstream gay scene but then I guess some people might have and this has made them extra careful,” one respondent claimed.
South Asian queerness is very much open and coming out in the public gaze. Most recently , the long running popular daily show- Eastenders featured an interracial queer love story strand which opened up a great number of debates, questions and arguments but it did bring being South Asian and Queer in the very living rooms of the South Asians. Parminder Sekhon, another very well known Queer photographer published a book, ‘Red Threads- Queer desi dykes’ a photo feature on South Asian gay women in London.
Spaces like Naz Project London which run two successful programs for gay South Asian Men- Dost and Ehsaas and for South Asian gay women- Kiss are hugely popular and provide emotional and social support for the vast South Asian queer populace in London, regularly organising dinners, parties and film screenings as well as fortnightly meetings.
London has definitely provided a blanket of comfort for the Indian queer men and women but the fight is still far from over. As one respondent puts it, ‘Legal rights are good but how will that help me if my parents, and society do not accept it, Legal rights cannot force them to accept me.’ The road is still long but the Indian queer community has come a long way and the path looks hopeful in the coming years.
