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Happy and gay in Delhi University

Updated on: 01 December,2010 08:21 AM IST  | 
Vatsala Shrangi |

Pride Parades don't end in Jantar Mantar. They go all the way to campuses

Happy and gay in Delhi University

Pride Parades don't end in Jantar Mantar. They go all the way to campuses

Pink is the new red across campuses. The new colour of revolution. Of assertion. Of the courage to say: 'I am gay, and I am proud of it'. The discomfort at the nooks and corners of this city, its many roads and hidden houses about alternate sexuality may now extend to the corridors of city colleges, but the voice won't be silenced.

After the third Queer Pride Parade in the national capital, it has become easier for gay couples to be known for who they are. Even in Delhi University.

19-year-old Rohit is your average college-goer with a fondness for cinema and books. Until last year he did not want anyone to know he is gay. This year, he mustered the courage to come for the Queer parade with flags of freedom and smiles.

"I am no more ashamed of telling myself or the world I am gay. After the judgment on section 377, I felt the right to be who I am and told my parents about my sexual orientation. They abused me and threatened to throw me out of the house. I was sad and depressed. I could not study.

After a few days of internal struggle, my mother came out in my support. She now says she is proud to call me her son. This is my achievement. I can now face the world and my heterosexual batch mates and tell them who I am," said a relaxed Rohit, who is a second year B Com (Pass) student at Dayal Singh College, University of Delhi.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Rohit is not alone. "Many students in DU have the best academic backgrounds, some have even gone to foreign schools and colleges, but they laugh at us. They are hypocrites. Why should we care for them? It's okay to have one's own sexual preference, which should not shock anyone," said the managing member of an anonymous gay community within DU, a student who refused to disclose his identity in print.u00a0

This year Queer Pride Parade saw a lot of gay couples come out in the open without fear or shame. But an even better development was that apart from the usual NGO crowd and human rights activists, there were students, teachers and professionals from the central varsity. As well as DU students who openly flaunted their sexuality on the streets.

"We came down to support the march. I am not part of the community, but I was very much part of the Queer Pride Parade as I am for their rights. Every individual has a right to his or her sexuality," said Yamini, a first year science student in Miranda House.

The DU gay community has members from many DU colleges. They meet at tea stalls; chalk out plans and circulars for their rights. "Though the judgment has come and it has become more open now, but still there is a long battle ahead. There are instances of police harassment.

Gay couples have become a soft target for the police. The beat constables deployed in the university never miss a chance to humiliate gay couples. Being part of a community does not help always," said Harsh, a final year DU student and member of the gay community.

For others, this community gives hope. Take Harsh and Sonu. They are real brothers who are now gay partners. They have been ousted by their family and live in a small room on rent in Mukherjee Nagar. "We had a real tough time at home. We faced such mortification and were ridiculed by our parents and relatives.

They even threatened to get us married to girls if we did not behave like other boys do. We decided to leave home then and now we work part-time and study as well," said Sonu. Both of them are studying Political Science (H) and are enrolled at the School of Open Learning (SOL), Delhi University. "The gay community here gives us courage to go on," he said.

"The concept of homosexuality is not new and dates back to the ancient period where the practice was exercised and not looked down upon. In contemporary times, it is ironical and sad that people are harassed and even ostracized by society for being homosexuals," said Anuradha Mukherjee, Programs Manager, Naz Foundation.


What DU gays want

Legal action should be taken against policemen, beat constables in the campus and others who commit violence against queers.
Government should allow people to record the gender category of their choice, voter ID and all other government documents.u00a0 There should be action against discrimination



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