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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Q&A: "Every Work Form You Fill Asks Your Marital Status"

Q&A: "Every Work Form You Fill Asks Your Marital Status"
Ann Ninan interviews LESLEY ESTEVES, a queer activist

NEW DELHI, Jul 29 (IPS) - When the New Delhi High Court amended Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial-era law which was used to criminalise consensual homosexual relationships, on Jul. 2, it was a "life-changing moment for me," says Lesley Esteves, a journalist and queer activist based in New Delhi.

For the first time, a constitutional authority spoke up "so forcefully for my community," she asserts.

The ruling applies to New Delhi, but it sets a precedent for the legal establishment across the country. Already, there are attempts being made by the religious right-wing and political parties to scuttle it.

IPS interviewed Esteves about being a queer woman, the judgement and heterosexuality in India.

IPS: The judgement on Article 377 is a victory for basic rights to privacy, non discrimination and liberty.

LESLEY ESTEVES: My community has lived under the shadow of criminalisation for 150 years. The only ‘crimes’ (we) committed were refusing to adhere to gender norms laid down by one section of our society - be it in dress, speech, behaviour or choice of sexual partner.

These norms were for long claimed to be sanctified by religion, the basis of their enforcement in law. These norms are nothing but prejudices, which ultimately aim to create unequal societies.

The writers of the Constitution of India hoped to prevent the prejudices of one set of the Indian people from oppressing another set of people, and they wrote the protections into law through the Fundamental Rights available to all Indians. The Delhi High Court upheld that spirit of inclusiveness and tolerance for diversity, by effectively agreeing that Section 377 could no longer be used as a tool of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

IPS: What would you say about patriarchy and being queer in India?

LE: A queer person is quite simply defined as any person who falls outside of, and foul of, the patriarchal notions of family and gender roles.

That's why we use the word 'queer', which is a much broader term than gay or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender). This challenge marginalises not only gay and transgender people, but also single women, single men, straight couples who want to live together and not get married, straight people who reject unequal marriage laws, straight people who reject conventional gender roles, etc.

The way that conventional marriage operates, especially in the Indian context, seems to be more about resource preservation and applying privileges of citizenship to only one set of people, than about a relationship.

This is seen in how most faiths, law and government regulations recognise only one family system. Only a marriage involving one man with one woman can be sanctified and accorded protection from social or economic discrimination.

The queer struggle is to end this hegemony, and to enable equality for all kinds of consensual relationships, family structures and gender behaviours. It is a struggle closely reflected in the issues the women's movement also grapples with. Therefore, in metro cities like Delhi, Bombay, Lucknow and Calcutta, you notice partnerships between queer rights and women's rights groups.

IPS: Can you tell me a little about yourself.

LE: I have been open about my sexual identity since the age of 15, when my parents discovered I was gay. In the workplace, I wish I could have chosen otherwise, but I never wanted to be counted as heterosexual.

It’s not evident to most how much heterosexuality hegemonises the discourse in the workplace. Every work form you fill asks your marital status; every colleague you meet asks the same question.

And of course, some colleagues have access to facilities that I don’t. I can’t claim medical benefits for my partner under company schemes, the way they do for their spouses.

One of my very first jobs was that of a sales person for email in Bombay. Those were the days when email was a product to be sold! They asked me to leave after a couple of weeks because I refused to change the way I dress. They wanted me to dress ‘more like a woman’. My mother told me, let nobody ever tell you how you can and can’t dress. So I chose to quit instead.

IPS: Will the ruling open a small window even for queer women outside metro India, in less anonymous towns and smaller cities.

LE: Women from all social contexts and classes in India have been trying to carve out queer existences, whether in the village or by migrating towards the big cities where there are greater chances of community support.

In Delhi and Mumbai, often we have had to support couples escaping family pressure in interior Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana. We fully expect such cases to rise, now that the court has sent a message to queer Indians that the courts can and will uphold their rights. (END/2009)

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Low response expected for Aug 16 Mumbai gay parade

Low response expected for Aug 16 gay parade

By: Varun Singh

Date: 2009-07-26

Place: Mumbai

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jul/260709-August-16th-gay-pride-parade-low-response-Mumbai-news.htm

Activists say that the Gay parade scheduled for August 16 will not see a surge in response despite the recent Delhi High Court ruling. About 1,000 gays including supporters, activists and people from other metros like Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata are expected to participate. Others will stay indoors because of the perceived stigma attached to the word gay.

Celebrations in Bombay just after the HC ruling Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

About 600 people from the gay community and their supporters gathered to be a part of last year's gay parade.

Pallav Patankar, one of the organisers and the trustee of Humsafar Trust, said that this year's crowd would be 1,000-strong. "There are fears that they might be targeted and that religious groups might create a problem," said Patankar.

People from the gay community say that the Delhi gay parade was threatened by a right wing group; this might have an adverse affect on Mumbaikars.

Jasmeer Thakur of Samabhawana Society argues that media mostly talk about gays and lesbians in a sexual content. "Most gays stay away because they are portrayed as transgender. A gay is also a regular 9 to 5 man who will soon come out after everyone behaves sensibly, including the media and religious gurus. If all this is tackled, the parades will see a surge."

However, activists like Geeta Kumana of Aanchal, that works with lesbians, even thousand is a good number.

Vikram Phukan, editor of Bombay Dost, claims the numbers will be larger. "We still have three weeks and if it is publicised properly, there will be a good count."

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Alternative sexuality is latest literary subject: Neel Mukherjee

Alternative sexuality is latest literary subject: Neel Mukherjee 2009-07-26 12:31:00

Writer-reviewer Neel Mukherjee, the joint winner of the Vodafone-Crossword Books Award 2008 along with novelist Amitav Ghosh, feels that writings on alternative sexuality are gradually coming out of the closet in India.

'I would like to believe it (writing freely about alternative sexuality) is a trend in India. The English-educated urban centres are seeing liberalism. It's a good thing. I consciously wanted to have a gay protagonist in my novel,' Mukherjee told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

His book 'Past Continuous' -- the saga of a lonely young gay man who flees a miserable life in Kolkata to the freedom of Britain -- won the Vodafone-Crossword award in the best English fiction category along with Ghosh's 'Sea of Poppies' Thursday.

The London-based author, who has made Britain his home for the last 17 years, feels that a lot has been written about alternative sexuality in India, but society is still not comfortable with such relationships.

'Gay activist Salim Kidwai has written an important book ('Same Sex Love in India'), though it is not fiction. Penguin has published its anthologies of gay and lesbian writings and publishers like Kali and Zubaan will soon take the lead in lesbian writing. A lot of things are going on in India about rights, equality and Article 377, which was so long in the background.

'But personally, England kind of liberated me into writing so openly about homosexuality. In India, there is still the cultural air (conventions) that you breathe,' Mukherjee said.

The 38-year old writer, who has been educated in Kolkata (Jadavpur University) , Oxford and Cambridge, shot to fame as a fiction reviewer for The Times, London, and Time Magazine-Asia. He is also a contributing editor for The Boston Review.

'The fiction reviews keep me going though I have cut down on the numbers. It is difficult to describe a book in 400 words these days. It just becomes soundbytes,' says Mukherjee.

His novel is about an orphan called Ritwik Ghosh, who grows up in the bylanes of south Kolkata amid a crowd of suspicious and nosy relatives.

He escapes to Oxford on a scholarship, but grows up suddenly as he discovers his true self and chooses to be an illegal gay wanderer on the streets of London and in its public toilets.

Mukherjee also touches upon issues of illegal immigrants, corporal punishment and aggressive mother and child bonds -- and brings Ritwik in contact with a senile old Englishwoman, Anne Cameron, who journeys to India to delve into the shared colonial legacy of India and Britain.

'I poured my heart into creating Anne Cameron. She has suffered so much and the character Ritwik has a lot of me in him. I love imagining other people's lives and stepping into their minds. I wanted a lot of outsiders and loners in my book -- who are alienated,' said Mukherjee, who also lost his parents like his protagonist.

Mukherjee started writing the book in 2001 after a course in creative writing at the University of East Anglia.

'But it took a long time for the book to be published. In 2003-2004, Shruti Devi of Picador India picked up the book and it was finally released in January 2008. The book, however, sold quite late last year,' Mukherjee said.

His British publishers Constable & Robinson will bring out the book in early 2010 under a new title 'A Life Apart'.

Although the protagonist of his novel is a Bengali from Kolkata, Mukherjee himself is an unlikely Bengali.

'I don't feel like going back to Kolkata -- it's too crowded. The only thing I miss are Satyajit Ray's books ('Feluda' and 'Professor Shanku' series). He was probably one of the greatest writers of our childhood,' says Mukherjee.

He insists that his only connect with Bengal 'is the proficiency in Bengali language and its cuisine' but his next novel is also set in Kolkata.

'I can cook almost all kinds of Bengali food. I think Bengali food is international,' says the writer, whose hobbies are cooking and reading.

Mukherjee's favourite authors are 'lesser known, like American writers James Salter, Richard Yates and William Maxwell; Mohammed Hanif of Pakistan and the Norwegian writer Per Petterson'.

(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)

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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Soon 'gay novelist' will sound backward

Namita Devidayal, TNN 26 July 2009, 12:16am IST

It is a debut novel that is being described as "searing, savage and gut-wrenching''. Novelist Neel Mukherjee took the literary world by surprise

when his book Past Continuous jointly won the Vodafone Crossword Fiction Prize, upping veteran writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and Salman Rushdie. In the novel, a young gay Bengali student in Kolkata gets his ticket to freedom when he wins a scholarship to Oxford.

As he struggles to build a new life, old ghosts, especially that of an abusive mother, haunt him. In its review of the book Bibilio said, "Instead of the cloying nostalgia that fills so much diasporic fiction, we have a hard, painful hatred, a desire to burn the past into the bitter ashes of the cremation-ground.''

The Kolkata-born Mukherjee, who lives between the US and the UK, was in Mumbai this week to accept the award. In an email interview he talks about, among other things, why the term gay novelist in an antiquated one.

Q. Tell us about the process of writing the book. How much of it was autobiographical? After all, you also made the journey from Kolkata to England.

A. The process was the usual (and very boring) one of turning on the computer or, in my case, mostly, uncapping a pen, turning a fresh page, and beginning to write. Following some story I'd heard about Graham Greene, I tried to write 500 words every day but it was never as regimented and disciplined as that. Most days yielded 200, some rare ones, 1000.

Yes, there is a lot of me in Ritwik, one of the two protagonists of the novel, but one wouldn't get very far pursuing one-to-one correspondences.

Q. This is the first openly gay novel coming out of India. Also, you dedicated your award to the Naaz Foundation and its fight for gay rights. Please talk about that space.

A. Is this really the first openly gay novel in India? Surely not! If you follow historians such as Saleem Kidwai, you'll find out that gay writing has been there for a very long time. As for the term `gay novel', while I don't dispute it at all, I find Ritwik's homosexuality of decidedly less importance than the book's other themes: mothers and sons, alienation, loneliness, outsiders, home and homelessness, exile.

Yes, I dedicated my award to the Naaz Foundation and the nameless lawyers who have carried on the long, exhausting battle for equality. In that sense, it is not so much about `gay rights' as about equality. My position is that of Amartya Sen's, as outlined in that astonishing open letter he wrote in 2006 (or was it 2007?). And as a novelist who also happens to be gay, I think it's time for us to stand up and be counted. Besides, we don't use the terms `woman novelist' or `female novel' any more; hopefully, in the not too distant future the term `gay novel' or `gay novelist' will seem equally antiquated and backward.

Q. Can you talk about the city as a metaphor. What does one leave behind when they leave a city?

A. Gosh, this is a very big question and I don't feel this is the right space to address it. To answer the second half of the question: one leaves behind a past, a history, a context, the very matrices of one's being up to that point in time before departure. But they're always present, so `leaving behind' is illusory. You may leave them behind but they don't leave you; they live inside you forever.

Q. You novel ends morbidly in an act of extreme racial violence. Why did you feel the need to do that?

A. I hope not `morbid' but I can't answer this question without a `spoiler alert'. Suffice it to say that the book continues, very deliberately so, after this act of `extreme racial violence', in the final chapter of the historical narrative. What does that say about the book?

Q. How do you feel about winning this award? What comes next for you?

A. Thrilled and delighted. What comes next is the UK publication of this novel, under the title A Life Apart, in January 2010. I'm also working with a Bengali artist on a graphic novel. And writing my second novel, which, needless to say, is going very, very slowly.

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Homosexuality, medicine and psychiatry

The Hindu, Chennai ed.
Date:25/07/2009
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/25/stories/2009072555940800.htm Back

Opinion - Leader Page Articles
Homosexuality, medicine and psychiatry
K.S. Jacob

There is need to change the widely prevalent prejudice and to focus on
people’s humanity rather than on their sexual orientation.

There are many theories on the origins of homosexuality, its social
and personal meanings and its implications. The American Psychiatric
Association in 1973, and the World Health Organisation in 1992,
officially accepted it as a normal variant of human sexuality. Many
countries have decriminalised homosexual behaviour and some have
recognised same-sex civil unions and marriage.

Medicalisation of homosexuality: The shift in ideas from a religious
understanding of homosexuality, which held that such acts were sinful,
to considering it a pathological state occurred in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries. Early theories included genetic, endocrine and
anatomical differences, which were said to produce a particular
orientation. Others argued for imperfect sexual differentiation,
immaturity and pathology, which led to claims that homosexuality could
be cured. Studies and explanations within medicine and psychoanalysis
led to the removal of the responsibility of defining homosexuality
from the realm of religion and secured it within science and medicine.
However, it also created a category of persons — the homosexual. This
was in contrast to the religious belief that homosexuality was a
behaviour rather than identity. It also perpetuated the social stigma
by moving it from the domain of sin to that of pathology. The term
“homosexual” is pejorative as it considers only one aspect of a person
and uses that to sum up his or her entire identity.

Normalisation of homosexuality: The work of Kinsey and his colleagues
in the mid-20th century was a scientific and cultural watershed. They
documented a high prevalence of same-sex feelings and behaviour in men
and women. Other workers documented homosexuality across cultures and
among almost all non-human primate species and argued that it was
natural and widespread. Investigations using psychological tests could
not differentiate between heterosexual and homosexual orientation in
men. Research also demonstrated that people with the homosexual
orientation did not have any objective psychological dysfunction or
impairments in judgment, stability and vocational capabilities. This
led to a movement within American psychiatry, which argued against the
a priori assumption that homosexuality is pathological. Psychiatric,
psychoanalytic, medical and mental health professionals now consider
homosexuality a normal variation of human sexuality.

The debate: The debate on homosexuality is polarised with arguments
for its being innate and fixed, versus constructed and mutable. The
essentialist theory argues that it is innate and an expression of
biological factors. Constructivists argue that homosexuality is a
result of social and external influences. The argument that
homosexuality is a stable phenomenon is based on the consistency of
same-sex attractions, the failure of attempts to change and the lack
of success with treatments to alter orientation. There is a growing
realisation that homosexuality is not a single phenomenon and that
there may be multiple phenomena within the construct of homosexuality.
Those opposing these views argue that heterosexuality has been the
norm throughout history and in different cultures. They are not
willing to accept homosexuality as part of a normal identity. They
also argue that it will lead to the breakdown of the family.
Nevertheless, the threat today to marriage and family in India is from
heterosexual men with their high rates of alcohol abuse, physical and
sexual violence, harassment for dowry, unprotected extramarital sex
and the abandonment of the wife and children.

Prevalence: The prevalence of homosexuality is difficult to estimate
for many reasons including the associated stigma and social
repression, the unrepresentative samples surveyed and the failure to
distinguish among desire, behaviour and identity. The figures vary
among age groups, regions and cultures. Western figures are said to
approach 10 per cent but reliable Indian data is not available.

On the origins: Medicine and science continue to debate the relative
contributions of nature and nurture, biological and psychosocial
factors, to homosexuality. The proposed biological models argue for
genes and hormones organising brain circuits that mediate sexual
orientation, biology playing a permissive role by providing neural
circuits through which neuronal connections are inscribed or through
indirect effects working through temperament and personality. Despite
many hypotheses and much research, there is no definite evidence to
suggest specific genetic, neural or hormonal differences that
determine sexual orientation.

Anthropologists have documented significant variations in the
organisation and meaning of same-sex practices across cultures and
changes within particular societies over time. The universality of
same-sex expression co-exists with variations in its meaning and
practice across cultures. Cross-cultural studies highlight the limits
of any single explanation of homosexuality within a particular
society.

Classical theories of psychological development hypothesise the
origins of adult sexual orientation in childhood experience. However,
recent research argues that psychological and interpersonal events
throughout the lifecycle explain sexual orientation. It is unlikely
that a unique set of characteristics or a single pathway will explain
all adult homosexuality.

Anti-homosexual attitudes: Anti-homosexual attitudes, once considered
the norm, have changed over time in many social and institutional
settings in the West. However, hetero-sexism, which idealises
heterosexuality, considers it the norm, and denigrates and stigmatises
all non-heterosexual forms of behaviour, identity, relationships and
communities, is also common. The recent judgment of the Delhi High
Court, which declared that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code
violates the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, was in
keeping with international, human rights and secular and legal trends.
However, the anti-homosexual attitudes of many religious and community
leaders reflect the existence of widespread prejudice in India.
Today’s religious leaders seem to define their religion by whom they
exclude rather than by what they embrace and those they include.

Societal challenges: The secularisation of societies has resulted in
the withdrawal of religion from public spaces. The separation of
religion from the state is widely accepted in many countries. However,
religious leaders who interpret ancient texts literally have viewed
such liberal ideas with suspicion. Prejudice against different
lifestyles and against the minorities is part of many cultures,
incorporated into most religions and is a source of conflict in
several societies.

In addition to the challenges of living in a predominantly
heterosexual world, the diversity within people with homosexual
orientation results in many different kinds of issues. Sex, gender,
age, ethnicity and religion add to the complexity of issues faced. The
stages of the life cycle (childhood, adolescence, middle and old age),
family and relationships present diverse concerns.

Clinical approaches: In most circumstances, the psychiatric issues
facing gay, lesbian and bisexual people are similar to those of the
general population. However, the complexities in these identities
require tolerance, respect and a nuanced understanding of sexual
matters. Clinical assessments should be detailed and should go beyond
routine labelling and assess different issues related to lifestyle
choices, identity, relationships and social supports. Helping people
understand their sexuality and providing support for living in a
predominantly heterosexual world are mandatory. People with homosexual
orientation face many hurdles, including the conflicts in
acknowledging their homosexual feelings, the meaning of disclosure and
the problems faced in their coming out.

There is no definitive evidence of the effectiveness of sexual
conversion therapies. In fact, there is evidence that such attempts
may cause more harm than good, including inducing depression and
sexual dysfunction. With the acceptance of homosexuality as a normal
variant by mainstream health professionals, there has been a reduced
emphasis on using and evaluating sexual conversion therapies within
medical and psychiatric circles. However, faith-based groups and
counsellors pursue such attempts at conversion using yardsticks which
do not meet scientific standards. Clinicians should keep the dictum
“first do no harm” in mind. Physicians should provide medical service
with compassion and respect for human dignity for all people
irrespective of their sexual orientation. Training physicians and
psychiatrists in the assessment of sexuality is mandatory. Research
into the issues in India is crucial for increasing our understanding
of the local and regional context.

Human sexuality is complex and diverse. As with all complex behaviour
and personality characteristics, biological and environmental
influences combine to produce a particular sexual preference. We need
to focus on people’s humanity rather than on their sexual orientation.

(Professor K.S. Jacob is on the faculty of the Christian Medical
College, Vellore.)

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu

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Parenting/Yuva mags focus on homosexuaity

Courtesy movenpick

(i) Volume 17, No. 9, July 2009 issue of Parenting
(http://parentingindia.com), India's homegrown magazine on pregnancy,
baby and child issues, now in its 17th year, has a very sensible
article "Talking to Kids about Being Gay" on how to bring up sexual
orientation topics with pre-school and school-age kids. Note that
this issue came out before the 377 judgement. Some quotes...

"... most parents would agree that it's always important to teach our
kids that all people must be treated fairly, humanely and with
respect"

"... there's always the possibility that one of your children could,
in fact, be gay. And no doubt you'll want them to know that they are
still loved and treasured as individuals. You'll also be hoping that
they don't some day face terrible discrimination, verbal or physical
abuse. As well. you may have a friend, relative of acquaintance, who
is openly or quietly gay, and you'll want to ensure that they're not
offended by our own family's ill-informed remarks.... and frankly
you'll want to ensure that your kids don't exhibit unnecessary fear,
ignorance or cruelty... when faced with eunuchs on the streets".

"Experts note that it's not always necessary to actually talk about
sex with you're discussing sexual orientation with kids... [i]t's more
important for children to understand that a loving relationship can
sometimes be shared between two men or two women, in a similar way
that men and women, who are heterosexual, care for each other".

(ii) Vol 1, Issue 6, July 16, 2009 of Yuva, billed as The Magazine for
Young India, has an editorial and a series of articles on the cover
theme 'Gay and Free: young homosexuals look forward to a guilt-free
future'

Surprisingly homoerotic (for a mainstream youth magazine: I first
spotted it in the hands of teenage girl at the bookstall in Delhi
airport) cover at
http://zoneyuva.com/images/stories/yuva-coveraug1.jpg

The lead article by Shalini Seth has quotes from several lgbt-india
and khush listmembers including Nitin Karani, Geeta Kumana, Vikram
Doctor and Parmesh Shahani. There's also a nice first-person essay
"What the Regular Guy wants" by Keith Fernandez. about the 377 ruling
and how it's changed him "...no more trawling for sexual fulfillment
behind grimy toilets. No more groping around in the dark in
neighbourhood buildings".

Check these magazines out, and if possible, consider writing to them
appreciating their inclusion of LGBT content.

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http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jul/250709-Azaad-Bazaar-Gays-Gifts-Online.html

India's first India's first LGBT pride store launched online

By: Aastha Atray Banan

Date: 2009-07-25

Place: Mumbai

What does the average Indian homosexual do when he wants to gift a special something to his lover? Simran and Sabina of Azaad Bazaar have the answer

Sabina and Simran, partners and founders of Azaad Bazaar, India's only LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) pride store, couldn't stop smiling on the morning of July 2, when the Delhi High Court

The Azaad T-shirt, an expression of freedom (Rs 399)

decriminalised Section 377 of the IPC, which sought punishment of up to 10 years for any kind of sexual intercourse against the order of nature. Their online store, which caters to "everyone gay or straight", aims to be one that tries to give the average Indian gay an "identity that he/she can flaunt with pride". "You can always buy a souvenir or a cute gift from a pride store in the US, but how does that reflect the Indianness?" asks Sabina.

The Mumbai-based entrepreneurs launched the brand in February this year, and their online shopping portal went live 10 days ago. The two say they are surprised at the response from straight customers who are interested in the merchandise. They have had straight women buying the Maa Da Ladla tees for their boyfriends and husbands. Straight men have walked in at exhibitions they've hosted in the past, inquired about the 377 ruckus and walked away with shopping bags full of goods. "It's a great way to break the ice. Straight and gay people harbour misconceptions about each other, but when we start talking, it just gets easier," says Sabina.
Probably a first in the South Asia region, the website has received hits from all over India, even from the supposedly conservative North East and the South. "Other than the metros, we've received enquiries from smaller towns, where most gays haven't come out of the closet. It also helps that the website has a clean, safe look. We don't sell sex toys. It's all about cute, funky accessories and tees that send out a message without being preachy," says Simran.

product prices range from Rs 30 to Rs 1,500. Log on to www.azaadbazaar.com to place your order.

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