Sukhdeep Singh - Indian Leaders Are Shocked By The Orlando Shooting, But Not By Homophobia
In what is being described as the worst attack on US soil after 9/11, 49 people
partying at a gay nightclub were massacred by a gun wielding man. Another 53
were left injured. The LGBTQ community around the world was left shocked, and
so was everyone else. Condemnation of the act came from all quarters, and
Indian leaders weren't to be left behind.
None of them even slightly alluded to the
fact that it was an attack at a gay nightclub, driven by homophobia. The word
"gay" is one that draws derision from most Indian politicians, one
that must not be used, not even when 49 people get killed because of their
sexual orientation.
While our PM has
expressed his "shock" over the killings, he has till now maintained a
studied silence over Section 377. Probably his heart pains only when there is
violence of the physical kind on the LGBT population. But violence need not
be physical all the time. Violence can be in non-physical forms -- verbal and
mental. Physical violence is easy to show, but it is when violence manifests in
other forms that you get to know who your true friends and sympathizers are.
This violence has been
perpetuated on Indian LGBTs by many from Mr. Modi's own party. It is violence
when Subramanian Swamy, whom the dear PM and his party nominated to the Rajya
Sabha, refers to gay people as mentally sick and needing
treatment. It is violence when hordes of MPs from his own party block a Bill to amend Section 377 in Parliament
and disallow any discussion not just once, but twice. It is violence when Baba
Ramdev, with whom the PM has shared space often and who is one of his
staunchest supporters, says that he can cure homosexuals with yoga.
It is violence when the
party that the PM belongs to skirts around the issue and says the topic of
repeal of Section 377 needs wider consensus and discussion within their party.
Sorry to break it to you, but human rights are not based on the consensus of
the majority. The very presence of Section 377 is the most violent act that
Indian LGBTs have to face. And it is violence when despite its brute majority,
the PM and his party will not address the criminalization of homosexual acts in
India.
The words of the likes
of Baba Ramdev and Subramanian Swamy inflict further violence on the bodies of
LGBTs when they are taken or dragged by their parents to psychiatrists or
doctors who administer them shock therapies and hormones. Is Mr. Modi not
shocked enough at this violence? Does the blatant homophobia and the violence
it perpetuates in various forms not shock the PM and other leaders of this
country?
Indian leaders were
shocked at the killings, true, but what is also true is that they were not
shocked by the underlying homophobia. By completely erasing the mention of LGBT
people in their statements and refusing to condemn the homophobia behind the
massacre, they have proven that they will remain blind to the plight of LGBTs
in India and the world over.
This post was first
published in Gaylaxy
