The Professor Siras tragedy has pained us all immensely and rightly so. Here’s a dedicated teacher subjected to not only a breach of his privacy, but also the worst form of homophobic discrimination. But what pains me equally is the response it generated- firstly from the media, that shamelessly lay bare the man’s most intimate moments and secondly, the gay media that transformed him into an icon for gays nationally. Really, a gay icon? A man who considers his samesex relationships a matter of shame for himself and his family! If anything, for an openly gay man like me, it’s his response that was the real shame. And while gay advocates pushed him oh-so-unwillingly into a legal tangle, the man himself seemed drained of all energy to carry forward his great “fight”for gay rights!
So what are the shortcomings of our community that this whole fiasco bares? Firstly, the need for an integrated national gay rights organization like the Human Rights Campaign in the United States. Motley informal groups might have worked till now, but if we are to take our movement beyond the intellectual confines of Mumbai or Bangalore to a scale that is really required in this country, we do need a national platform, and for that an effective national leadership is of paramount importance. But can the present gay “leadership” in this country that seems to be hopelessly stuck up in a time warp of the 1990s deliver what is really needed? No student support initiatives, no platforms for families with gay children, no sign of a national gay rights group. Why does the movement in India
seem so rudderless? What they seemed contended with offering is a tacky wedding band at a Pride parade that hardly saw any increase in numbers. A wedding band, really?
Secondly, we have to loosen up ourselves. We’ve got to know when to cry homophobia and when not to. No matter where we are working, it’s our work that matters at the end of the day. Often we tend to hide our own shortcomings in the garb of alleged-homophobia. If I’m indispensible to the company I’m working for, no boss would ever fire me. Being honest about ourselves, contrary to popular perception, actually works to our advantage. A confident and irreproachable gay person who knows the work he’s doing and gets along well with his co-workers is less likely to be fired than a person who’s furtively homosexual and a social imbecile.
In this issue we also turn our attention to a matter so often brushed under the carpet in Indian society- that of child sexual abuse. The scale of abuse, according to a national study, is far worse than anybody had thought. It reports that 69 per cent of all Indian children are victims of physical, mental or emotional abuse, with New Delhi’s children facing an astounding abuse rate of 83.12 percent. Overall, Indian children were found to be victims of a slew of sexual crimes — rape, sodomy, exposure to pornographic material, fondling, forcible kissing and sexual advances, among others. In the pages to follow Sourendra recounts the very personal story of Harish, whose childhood ordeal stirred his conscience that helped him speak out on an issue that’s rarely touched in public. There’s a lot that we as a community as well as individuals can do to prevent more children from falling victim to such horrors. Education and sensitivity are the most important among them, and for that to happen we need a dialogue on this issue, which is sadly still lacking despite the laudable efforts of men like Harish.
Lastly, not to forget, it’s gay pride month- the time to be gay about who we are. The parades are not happening this month in all our cities, but if you’re in one those those places where’s it’s still on, don’t just sit at home, watching the colorful parades on your television screens. Instead, grab your rainbow flag and celebrate diversity on the streets of your city with the rest of us all!
Udayan
Editor-in-Chief
Letters to the editor can be addressed to: editor@pink-pages.co.in
