Gaysi: The Gay Desi - Yes, we're legal!

I believe people should think twice before associating the colour Blue with anything that they consider of value. I mean look at what happened to the very expensive Bollywood film starring the NoChaatiHairAkshay & CardboardSouthAfricanSharks, Baluuuuuuu. And at the very recently held Blue Apple Festival, Kolkata’s first LGBT literary festival organized by a local NGO named Saathii.

A middle-aged man introducing himself as a homosexual and then talking about his life, his partner and the joy of coming out. “Today, my wife or husband even cooks dinner for my father and my family,” beamed the man, much to the chagrin of LGBT activists around. “Heteronormative,” they shouted. “Why do you need to give a label to your relationship?” asked an enraged lady.

High estrogenial aunty didn’t just stop there…

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And it’s time to cash in. The most evident and (thankfully) positive effect coming from Decimalization of IPC 377 is Business honchos using the Gay angle to promote their products and services.

There are two ways to look at it;

Eyeing the ‘Pink Money’

And

Raising an eyebrow factor

Since being Gay and everything around it seems to be the ‘in-thing’ nowadays, business have adopted  the “behti Ganga mein haath dohlo” attitude. And not that I’m complaining.

Here’s a look at some of the Gaysi-friendly television commercials.

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[Pictures contributed by da gorgeous Ms. Gangwani. What can I say, I'm forever indebted. Thank You.]

Once upon a time, I use to admire this man. This man, Baba Ramdev. No no! Not because he wears the saffron dhoti. Or single handedly popularized Pantanjali’s yoga shaastra. Although I do give credit where it’s due – Baba Ramdev revived yoga (from its dormant form), commercialized it and turned it into ‘the-in-thing’. Screw Bollywood celebrities, this man is all international. Something even the likes of Aishwarya Rai took years and neednotmention loads of plastic to achieve. But this isn’t what caught my attention. Nor was I impressed by his claims of curing the curses of modern lifestyle; cancer, diabetes, AIDS and the likes.

I had a different reason.

You see, to me the man is the epitome of boldness. Courageous, to say the least. What? I hear you ask why?

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Over the decades, urban Indian parents have chipped away one reservation after another in the interests of their children’s well-being. Most parents today easily accept that their children may marry someone outside their caste, creed, and even race. They accept their children’s drinking, dressing, and dates. But even the most liberal parents are finding it difficult to consider the possibility that their child may be gay. [Link]

This is a piece written by Manju Sara Rajan for Open Magazine, which briefly touches on the subject of straight Indian parents and their homosexual children.

For a moment it took me back to 80s & very early 90s filmy scenarios. You know the bit where hi-fi bling bling parents learning that their beloved, overly pampered eklauta child has fallen in love, in a high pitched tone utter these very words – Love…tumhe love ho gaya? How dare?

My apologies for this amusing flashback, but the situation today is pretty much the same no? Replace Love with Gay and you have – Tum Gay ho? How dare?

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Sumant Srivathsan talks about the good, the bad and the missing.

The HC ruling states that it will be used to govern laws pertaining to non-consensual unnatural sexual activity involving both adults and minors. This is the first major stumbling block on the road to a truly progressive assessment of gay rights. In order to achieve a truly level playing field, it is critical that sexual partnerships and behaviours involving same-sex couples be treated identically to those between heterosexual couples. In other words, if a man rapes another man, the law governing the act should be no different from the one that applies when a man rapes a woman. In the same token, there should be no difference in statutory rape law based on the victim’s gender. To use a different IPC section to address same-sex rape is to continue to condone the belief that homosexual and heterosexual relationships are different in the eyes of the law.

[Link]