A Moral Dilemma: Being Politically Correct & Not Being A Tease

October 14, 2009

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Some months ago, I received an email from one of my readers. She was a lesbian lady who had come across one of my posts on Gaysi and wanted to tell me that she appreciated my support for the gay community. I wrote back thanking her and telling her how some of my close friends were gay and that it had given me a chance to see the difficulties they faced because of discrimination. At the end of that conversation, she asked to meet me, adding ‘if you don’t mind having coffee sometime with a dyke’. Of course I didn’t I told her, wouldn’t that be silly after all I had said? Later, she invited me to a party, telling me that there would be mostly gay people at the party. I didn’t manage to make it to that party after all. We’ve had a few conversations since then, about general topics, the kind that I write about – life, love, friendship, people etc.

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Ideasmith

The Straight Voice of Gaysi

December 13, 2008

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Another new blogging project. My brief – to be the straight voice of a gay desi blog. I’m excited.

I wonder who the readers will be. Will they be gays and lesbians and if so, will they have any interest in what a straight person thinks of homosexuality? Will they be people like me, straight and opinionated, in which case I’ll essentially be preaching to the converted? Will they be homophobics? And with the last question I recoil immediately. I’ve met with so many of those, especially recently, that I think I’m homophobic-phobic! As homosexuality comes out of its closet in India, so do the homophobics and to me they are no less despicable than fundamentalists opposing something they are afraid of rather than in disagreement with.

Anyway, I tell myself not to agonize (as I’m wont to do always) too much about who’s reading. So I switch to agonizing over what my co-bloggers here think. What does a gay person feel about a straight person? Do they ever find my views presumptuous, considering I am not really in the same experiences as they are? Do they ever resent the fact that my lifestyle choices are more mainstream and enjoy unquestioned acceptance while they have to fight for what (we all believe) is rightfully their choice?

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