License to Wed?

SOURCE:  Times of India
DATE:  June 1, 2009
AUTHOR:  Tarunya Suresh

Even as a slew of states move to legalise gay marriages in the US, a new poll has found that most Americans still oppose it, though those under 35 are solidly in support of gay marriage legalisation.

The poll finds that just 44 per cent back gay marriage, compared with 58 per cent of those under 35. Is this a case of generation divide? Well, apparently so.
Surveys conducted in the city of Chennai show that a large number of people back gay marriages, but are very sure that the city’s sexagenarians still have problems with the concept in itself, a thought that Aditi Saraf, senior business analyst eschews.

“We still have a long way to go in India when it comes to accepting gay marriages. In a country where people still have difficulty accepting the cause of inter-religious marriages, who are we kidding by talking about same sex marriages? I’m personally all for it, because it promotes equality, but realistically, gay people are still considered ‘queer’ and it will be a long time before such a law comes into force,” she says.

However, the puritanical views of the generation gone by resonate just one sentiment — the act of homosexuality in itself is lewd, unnatural and vulgar. Laments Krishnan Sasiharan, a retired bank official, “ The concept of homosexuality is unnatural. Legalising gay marriages will erode our culture and value system. We should stop trying to ape the west in every way because theirs is, anyway, a society sans morals.”

While portions of India are deeply conservative on sexual matters, gay people are constantly subject to discrimination, ridicule, blackmail and persecution by police and government agencies, human rights campaigners say.
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Gay community gives green signal to Congress

Lok Sabha elections 2009    IANS
Gay community gives green signal to Congress
2009-04-28 09:45:22

SOURCE:  Sify News
New Delhi: The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community, which has been opposing ‘discriminatory’ laws against them, has hardly got support from any political party. Nevertheless, most of the community members have decided to cast their vote for the Congress since they feel it is ‘relatively’ more tolerant than the others.

According to officials of UNAIDS, there is no official data on the population of the gay community in India. In fact, collection of such data is illegal under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Gay rights activists, however, put a rough estimate - and this includes only those who have come out admitting their alternate sexuality - at more than five percent of the Indian population.

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Coming Out For Reel

By Shatarupa Chaudhuri
April 11, 2009
SOURCE:  Express Buzz

BANGALORE: “I am here for the movies. And Alessandro, he just wants to sleep around,” Daniel hooted with laughter at his own joke, while Alessandro vehemently protested between his blushes. We joined in the leg-pulling and Alessandro, who’s from Italy, went redder.“I want to watch the movies, make friends. And it is a different experience for me in India. Italy has changed a lot in the last 10 years and gays are more accepted, unlike here. Almost everyone there has a friend or a cousin or an acquaintance who is gay and people are okay with it,” Alessandro defended himself. Read the rest of this entry »

Creating spaces sans bias

Thursday, April 9, 2009
By Vaishali Chandra
SOURCE:  DNA India

Bangalore: Reel life often takes flights of fancy. It, however, is a potent medium to mirror reality. The two-day Bangalore Queer Film Festival commences Friday in an effort to raise awareness towards LGBT issues among the masses.

Films are a celebration of life, a window into people’s lives. Good As You, a support group for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) groups, and Delhi-based Nigah bring to the city an array of international films that throw light on queer lifestyles.

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They Made Fun of Me

Soumyadipta Banerjee
Friday, April 3, 2009 23:59 IST
SOURCE:  DNA India

Mumbai: The images started getting blurry for Karan Goel when he was only 15 years old. By the time he reached 27, a crippling eye disease ensured that Goel could barely distinguish between day and night. But by that time, he had already established a successful export house, got an award from president Pratibha Patil.

But that’s not all. Goel, a graduate from San Francisco State University has earned the distinction of being the first blind person to make a full-fledged commercial film in India. “My film is called The Other Side and the film portrays the life of a gay man who is forced to get married due to societal pressure,” says Goel.

But how does he make a film when he can’t even see the camera. “I used to see till I was a teenager, so I have an exact idea of the scene in my head. I ask my assistant to do exactly what is there in my head and when the shot is ready, my assistant tells me exactly where the characters are standing…at which points etc. Then I ask them to roll the camera,” he explains.

The scene takes at least twice the amount of time that a ‘normal’ scene would take, but who’s complaining? “Nobody! People are too appreciative that I have taken up the effort to do something like this. There was a time when I was not getting a job in the US for being blind. I was ridiculed and pushed around by bullies. And I just had to wipe my tears and get out of the place as fast as possible.”

We ask him why a film on gays, is he gay? “I am married. But I had a friend who was tortured and ridiculed. I knew how he felt. I have portrayed the trauma that a gay person goes through if he doesn’t have a support system. People simply don’t understand him. I knew how it feels when people make fun of you. They made fun of me too. I want to tell all my friends that people who make fun will continue to make fun of you. After a point, it wouldn’t matter to you if you have the will to succeed” he ends.