As the dates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections inch closer, the country has immersed itself in political discussions about possible futures. Amidst the hustle and bustle, an important aspect that has been missing is what queer voters want from its elected representatives in the 18th Lok Sabha.
In 2012, which was 12 years ago, the Government declared that India has 2.5 million people belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community. This was based on self-declaration and the actual number is likely to be much higher. Activists say that 125 million people are queer in the country. An arguably popular scale says that almost 10% of any population is queer. By that estimate, the country is home to 144 million queers, at the very least.
It is only logical to deduce that out of this 144 million, a significant chunk will be eligible and eager to vote in the upcoming elections. As the country heads to the polls, it is important to ponder upon who exactly we vote for and how that vote will make an impact on the lives of queer people in the country.
PinkList India, an initiative that tracks political figures and their views on queer issues, noted in 2019 that 151 out of a total of 543 MPs had been vocal on queer rights. Out of the total 37 parties in the country, 25 had individuals who had spoken out on the lived realities of queer people and the need to advocate for the community’s rights.
2024 elections will be noteworthy for the queer citizenry, just like the 2019 General Elections. The country had then just decriminalised homosexuality and thus, the community had hoped for MPs to speak out openly on the need for LGBTQIA+ rights and move ahead to steps like civil unions & marriage equality.
Also read: Why Indian Patriarchy and Patriotism is Against True Marriage Equality
Similarly, the 2024 elections will be held almost a year after the SC refused to give marriage rights to the community. The onus is now on the Parliament to recognise queer rights and bring in legislation that legally guarantees marriage equality. Thus, it is of utmost importance that MPs that are openly in support of queer rights are elected to the Parliament.
The Indian National Congress has recently released its manifesto. It has mentions of LGBTQIA+ rights such as the party’s support for legalising civil unions for queer partners. It’s a common first step in a country potentially heading towards full-fledged marriage equality rights, including a bouquet of associated rights like adoption, medical rights etc. This is seen as a key step in ensuring legal rights for queer couples.
But, during the marriage equality hearing, Rajasthan, a state then ruled by a Congress-led Government had opposed the legal recognition of the rights. When Onir, a queer filmmaker pointed out the hypocrisy of it all, Shashi Tharoor retorted that ‘personally many of us as individuals support you.’ He added that ‘state governments take their own positions.’ This can be interpreted as double-speak and the inclusion of queer rights in manifestos may be seen as pinkwashing or queer baiting – the act of publicly supporting queer people, but not actually doing anything for the improvement of their material reality.
Also read: Beyond the Bench: Opposing Views on Queer Marriage in the Wake of Supreme Court Hearings
CPI(M) or the Communist Party of India(Marxist) has also mentioned in its manifesto the rights of queer people. They promise to bring in horizontal reservations for transgenders in educational institutions and jobs. More importantly, the party promises to enact an anti-discrimination law based on ‘sexual orientation.’ According to various media reports– the CPI(M) has openly supported queer rights at the party level.
Also read: Why are DBA Transgender Folx Demanding Horizontal Reservation
The Aam Aadmi Party and Shiv Sena have declined to comment on the matter. As has a JD(U) leader who said that they are ‘not up to date with the matter.’ The Nationalist Congress Party had also set up an LGBTQIA+ cell before the party’s dramatic split. No one has heard of it ever since.
The ruling BJP-majority government can not be expected to seriously deliberate on queer rights. The Centre had vehemently opposed the legalisation of queer marriages and had vehemently opposed it in the Supreme Court. An MP had even gone as far as saying that ‘two judges can’t decide’ on the issue and that ‘same-sex marriages will cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country.’
Another big party in Eastern India, the Trinamool Congress has also supported marriage equality. The nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a political leader himself, Abhishek Banerjee has spoken openly in support of ‘same-sex marriages.’ Derek O’Brien, another TMC leader has also spoken about the need for queer-affirmative legislation in the country.
Also read:Marriage, Moral Panic and the Suspect Future of Marriage Equality
But here too, there are skeletons to be pulled out of the closet (pardon the pun.) In 2022, Trinamool Congress leaders went into a tirade against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari while being arrested had refused to be touched by women personnel, exclaiming ‘I am a male, I am a male!’ This led to days of attacks by the TMC claiming that Adhikari was confused about his gender. Senior party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh even went to the extent of saying that ‘there is a sexually perverted homosexual leader. Police should determine who he is.’ It is to be noted that this is after the country had decriminalised homosexuality and thus the role of the police was irrelevant in this matter. The tirade of the spokesperson on national television was a mockery of queer individuals everywhere and makes one wonder of the party’s true stance on queer rights.
In his recent Lok Sabha speech, the Prime Minister extolled the Government for doing work for transgender persons, and mentioned that it is getting global recognition. Oddly, the National Council for Transgender Persons has no transgender people. It is composed of cis women, many of whom have been openly transphobic in their comments. The efforts of the Council in easing the lives of trans people of the country remain circumspect.
Also read: Repeated and Unchecked Attacks on Public Queer Activist Raises Questions About State of GBV in India
Indians, and queer Indians in specific, have unfortunately learned to take all promises by politicians and political parties with a pinch of salt. Like all other issues, political parties are notorious for not fulfilling their promises once they win the elections. Thus, all claims of support must be examined in detail so that MPs may be held accountable post-polls.
Shashi Tharoor’s introduction of a bill to amend Section 377 had after all been famously laughed off by parliamentarians back in 2015. The laughs were from all quarters and had been a rare instance of cross-party consensus. Queerphobia it seems, unites almost all political parties.
A recent question posed by a popular queer Instagram page received some interesting responses. The question was- ‘As a queer person, who will you vote for and why?’ The responses were varied and gave an interesting glimpse into how the queer voter might behave in the months to come. Some people were in favour of the ruling BJP and its supremo, Narendra Modi. Some queer individuals felt that the Prime Minister had for the first time allowed them to be a ‘proud queer Hindu’.
A few transgender persons also credited the PM for giving them transgender cards, healthcare, jobs, and education. Some people wrote about how they would either not vote or choose the ‘None of the Above’ option. The reasons they gave for this ranged from a lack of empathy to the invisibilisation of the community in political discourse.
Even after 10 years of the Supreme Court recognising transgender folx and upholding the rights of a transgender person to self-determination, India is yet to see a trans-parliamentarian. When countries are appointing openly queer Prime Ministers, judges, and Presidents, it is high time that India sees active political participation of queer individuals.
Some activists have even suggested a reservation for queer people in the Parliament. In the same way that cis-women are likely to make better laws for cis-women, queer people are likely to make better laws for themselves than cis-het individuals. But, for this to happen we need to carefully examine who amongst our current political options is queer-affirmative and who is just doing it to appear ‘modern’ or use the LGBTQIA+ movement to secure some more votes.
It is time for the Parliament and the country’s politics to be painted in rainbow colours and we as queer voters, must make the move to paint the first stroke.
