A so-called harmless joke, normalises such behaviour

Carry Minati

Growing up, Anwesh Sahoo often heard people jeer at him for his sexuality, an inherent and crucial aspect of his being. That is when he first realised the damaging pain that words can inflict. Sahoo admits that pop culture, whether it is movies or songs, has played a huge role in reducing gay men and transgender people to caricatures. Overcoming such odds, he went on to represent India in the Mr Gay World pageant in 2016. He is a proud "femme" man and sees no reason why people
think it's okay to equate femininity with indignity.

Anwesh Sahoo

Sahoo penned an open letter to Carry Minati, in response to the video. "Some of India's most popular and influential YouTubers like Bhuvan Bam supported Carry Minati. They consoled him when his problematic video was taken down. I refuse to believe that these creators are so naïve that they can't understand why what Minati said was unacceptable." Although the design student watched the video in question, he chose not to report it because he believes that his fight isn't against one man, but the pervasive culture of toxic masculinity and homophobia. He hopes that Minati and others of his ilk put in the effort to sensitise themselves.

Sucharita Tyagi

Sucharita Tyagi, a film critic who also makes YouTube videos, says that if she can unlearn, so can others. "I took the time to educate myself. You have to be aware of the fact that there are young, impressionable minds watching your videos. Especially with the lockdown in place, everyone is turning to the Internet to keep themselves entertained." She called out Carry Minati's reprehensible video on her Instagram, demanding better from content creators and asking them to realise the responsibility that comes with being one. "When you make a joke that punches down instead of punching up, you're making fun of a community which is already marginalised and vulnerable."

Gauri Shringarpure

When one uses a word with a queer connotation to insult someone, it also acts to demean the queer community as a whole, even if that wasn't their intention. "Carry Minati should understand that when he cracks a so-called harmless joke, it normalises such behaviour. It's this micro-aggression that can amplify the other-ing of the LGBTQIA+ community. The least he can do is apologise" explains Gauri Shringarpure, a queer-affirmative counsellor. Shringarpure makes a valid point about Minati's popularity and the possible influence of his ignorant remarks over his (now) 19.8 million followers. If one's favourite YouTuber thinks it's okay to make LGBTQIA+ people the butt of his jokes, then one might end up thinking it's okay to ridicule the community. That his video became the most-liked Indian video on YouTube before it was taken down, speaks volumes about our lack of sensitivity towards the queer community and its struggles.

Mocking someone's sexuality or gender expression serves to increase a queer individual's feelings of alienation, even as it serves to diminish their self-confidence and self-acceptance. "It takes a toll on one's mental health to constantly hear invalidating things about oneself. My roommate's friends would come to our room and what passed for banter between them used to really hurt me. People make offensive remarks about the LGBTQIA+ people flippantly, as if there are no queer individuals around them who can hear them," says Christy, a trans person and research scholar, speaking about their experience of having to live in a men's hostel. Clearly, this is not the first time that content creators and others have targeted vulnerable groups in the guise of humour. However, the backlash that this video received is a step in the right direction, towards a more inclusive future.

Shakti Waghela

Christy is of the opinion that the lack of specific legislation targeting hate speech against the queer community contributes to the impunity of homophobic people. Shakti Waghela, a former customer executive, watched Carry Minati's video and went on to report it. "I am a trans woman and I think it's important to call out such behaviour. Carry insulted women and he insulted the queer community in a multi-pronged manner. He clearly benefitted from the traction and the views. Even more people know him now. If he's going to profit from ridiculing LGBTQIA+ people, then he should be accountable to us too."

'Even audiences can move court'

Priyanka Khimani, Entertainment and Music Rights Expert

Almost all platforms, including YouTube and TikTok, have thorough and well articulated community guidelines which set out what sort of user behaviour and content will and will not be tolerated on the platform. The platforms, YouTube included, reserve absolute and wide discretion, to take action against users or accounts that violate these community guidelines and other terms of use of
the platform, including removal of such content or even suspension or termination of such user accounts.

If the audience finds something disagreeable, don't engage with it in any manner whatsoever. In addition to this, even the audience can report content, using the same tools made available on the platform, to complain about abusive content or behaviour, or request a takedown of inappropriate content. And lastly, for a more formal legal approach, even audiences and viewers could move courts or approach the police, like we have witnessed several times in the past, to address issues that affect members of the public and society at large.

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