The position of LGBT Community members in India

Why are they fighting? So many NGO’s and social workers are trying to remove the taboo the members of LGBT community have been tagged with. It is like crying in a forest – nothing is going to change; not in India at least.

The Telegraph featured a story on LGBT Community of India in Graphiti on August 31, 2008. "Breaking Free" was the name of the story.

Breaking Free

"INDIA'S GAYS ARE GETTING ORGANISED AND BOLDLY COMING OUT IN THE OPEN"…Read the story.

(Thanks Telegraph for starting the digital version of Graphiti, otherwise I had to scan the pages)

And on the same day, the Survival Strategies column of Graphiti published harsh comments about gays - slums and skyscrapers side by side.

Here are few selective parts from the column:

Question:

I am a 20-year-old man. I have been involved in a homosexual relationship for the past two years with a friend of mine. I wanted to carry this relationship forward but he got involved with a girl and is now ignoring me. Getting ditched by him came as a terrible shock to me as it was totally unexpected and am going through mental turmoil. Please help.

Name and address withheld

Answer:

Mental turmoil? Just because he wants to try and be normal? Are you insane or what? There are more men than women in this country and if you really want to get lucky with men then go to Haryana where the man-woman ratio is miserable. There will be plenty of men who may desire you. So cut out this crap about mental turmoil and start looking all over again!

Cool Advice!!! So they are abnormal right? They cannot wish a long lasting relationship – all that they have is DESIRE!!! Perfect for them, isn’t it?

Scientists are still researching the reason for homosexual behavior. It can be a combination of gene that determines the orientation. How can it be abnormal?

Social workers are trying hard to settle people with physical deformities in the mainstream! We do not call them 'invalid' OR 'abnormal' anymore. "Differently abled" is the term society use for them. (Read how the term was coined)

Still some columns call gays abnormal. And that’s not all; just read the next strategy suggested to another person who is trying to survive:

Question:

I am a 30-year-old gay guy. I have fallen in love with you. I find you very attractive. For this reason, I can’t concentrate on my work and my wife is frustrated with me. Please help.

Name and address withheld

Answer:

Fallen in love with me? I am not gay, I have no desire to be gay either. I am very happy being with people like your wife so leave me alone and if you don’t want to be with your wife, leave her with me. Get the picture son?

Abusive. I don’t have any other word. Or should I say "AN UNCONVENTIONAL TAKE ON PERSONAL PROBLEMS – AND THEIR SOLUTIONS"? Read the entire column here.

Somehow I feel that the Graphiti has nothing to do with this. It is the problem of the columnist. I have never read a valid survival strategy in this column in my life (I admit that I missed some editions though). It sounds like people have done a great blander as they wrote to him!

It is true that some of the questions asked in the column are silly. But then nobody has asked Suhel to answer all the questions! If you feel an email is fake, why don’t you ignore it?

I can see that the topic of this blog post has changed suddenly. It is now an open letter to Suhel Seth.

Respected Sir,

If you are not interested in reading craps, then why are you handling the column? People write to you because they are suffering. If you do not have any suggestion, then just ignore them.

Those who send you letters or emails might not be of the same I.Q. level you belong to. The situation that appears to be a serious problem to them might be a silly thing for you. Please look at the situations from their perspectives if possible. Trust me, people have started reading this column for fun! If this is the purpose of this column, then no issues, just go ahead – mission has been accomplished.

Thanks
Saikat

P.S. I DO NOT HAVE ANY INTENTION TO HURT ANYBODY. IF YOU FIND ANY OF THE COMMENTS THAT I MADE IN THE ABOVE POST, OR ANY OF THE WORDS THAT I USED HERE INAPPROPRIATE OR HARSH, THEN I AM SORRY. DON'T SUE ME; SEND ME AND EMAIL AND I WILL AMMEND IT.