Contrast this with a global dark chapter in LGBT history. Brunei, the tiny, rich country on the island of Borneo goes full sharia
Mumbai marked the launch of a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex (LGBTQI) musical offering called Love is Love last week. Featuring a well known model and actor-entertainer-singer that is often seen in drag avatar, the makers say it is India's first gay anthem.
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It has been released across digital platforms and also features the trans women's group Dancing Queens. The artistes claimed that it is one more manifestation of a free, changing India after the landmark striking down of Section 377 (which criminalised consensual sex between two gay adults).
Contrast this with a global dark chapter in LGBT history. Brunei, the tiny, rich country on the island of Borneo goes full sharia. The country has introduced strict new Islamic laws that make anal sex and adultery offences punishable by stoning to death.
The move has sparked international condemnation, with the gay community fearful of the medieval punishments. Many gay people are contemplating leaving the country, but this is easier said than done. While India needs to join the chorus of condemnation on the global stage, the so called 'progress' in India on equal love stands in sharp and happy relief.
While acknowledging the strides taken and patting ourselves on the back, it is important to not lose sight of the micro aggressions that this community continues to face, here. The barely concealed sneers, the put down couched in a laugh, or open hostility passed off as ignorance, these are common insults that gay people are simply supposed to live with.
Let us start changing minds and hearts nolt just in terms of anthems or symbolic signposts that are important, but attitudes count, too. Reveling that we are not in the dark ages like Brunei is, is all very well but remember stones may break bones but words can wound as deeply. Equal Love must get equal respect.
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