With my short stint as a Queer Expressionist-Activist, I have realized one thing, Heteronormativity and section 377 of the Indian Penal Code disturbs not only the Queer Community, but every other human being who decides to love another human being in a way that is different from a penile-vaginal carnal intercourse ‘validated by nature’, in the country.
So, the fight is not just for ‘Gay Rights’, but the fight is
basically to gain the right of two (or more) mutually consenting adults having
a freedom in their bedroom and the society. A condom is rendered criminal by
the section, because it stands ‘unnatural’. So is fellatio and anal intercourse
between any two individuals, irrespective of their sex or gender. So, virtually
more than half of India’s population should be grinding stones in jail, and
they dare to call it a miniscule ‘minority’.
While BishalDey says that he has been continuing to do in his
bedroom what he pleases without invoking the judiciary, and hence the
government or judiciary does not matter, we would like to understand that
detangling the judiciary from our bedrooms involves convincing or forcing it to
detangle itself. This is where the fight lies, to understand why the government
has no say in the space owned by mutually consenting adults, and to make the
government understand that. Bishal also points out that ‘government
ke kichhu bojhate hobe na, nije bojho’ (you do not need to explain anything to the
government, understand it yourself). Jia resonates the concerns, saying that
the government owns no right to interfere in the personal sex life of two
mutually consenting adults. She makes a slogan out it, screaming, “straight or
gay or anything else...my sex life is none of their business.”
While we scream this out, we need to consciously understand
that scrapping the section would do little. We need to amend it, looking at the
points where we need it, and like Jia rightly points out, it is the next fight.
Primarily, we as social beings cannot isolate our existences from the society.
So while some may be comfortable by being invisible and non-existent in eyes of
the society, some of us might claim an iota of acceptance and visibility. So if
this social change needs to be executed through a change in the law, which
definitely provides more security to the members of the queer community, then
so be it.
The country is erupting in demonstrations and explanations of
multiple viewpoints around the Section 377. So, if you stand somewhere close to
one such demonstration, do attend it. If not, start one yourself. We stand here
with our future in our hands. Let us make what we can out of it.
If you are in Kolkata, then pay a visit to the Academy of
Fine Arts, on the first of February, at 6:00 PM. Show the Supreme Court that
you care, and we are not a miniscule minority.
(The views
of all the people involved in this article, including the author, are personal.
The author’s interpretation is so, too.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sayantan
is an active queer expressionist studying Biological Sciences in
Presidency University. He is the editor-in-chief of ExPress Magazine,
and also writes various columns for various other reputed magazines and
blogs. Some of his other articles are as follows :-
No comments:
Post a Comment