TV stars on GAY act

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July 2 will be a memorable day for all alternate lifestyle activists in India. And abroad. This was when the Delhi High Court declared that section 377 violates the right to life, liberty and equality enshrined. And they were not talking about any complicated legal stuff. This was a judgement on the law that criminalises ***ual acts (including homo***ual acts) between consenting adults in private.

Even a few years back, a judgement as liberal as this one would have been impossible in India. But with the waves of liberalisation and globalisation hitting Indian shores, change seems to be the order of the day. Since homo***uality and the film and entertainment industry have been linked by the media for a long time, this judgement is surely going to have some impact on the industry.



TellyChakkar spoke to some television and film celebrities about their feelings on this and we are ready for such a drastic change in our laws or not:

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Rajesh Khera (He was one of the first actors on Indian television who portrayed a homo***ual character, Maddy in Jassi..) To be very frank, I feel nice about the fact that rights have been established. At the same time in a country like India where there are many religious bodies with mass following, we need to consider their sentiments as well. How they are going to react to this, how they are going to help propagate the right message and so on and so forth. I guess the gay community should respect this law and not misuse it. In Western countries, gay march and exhibitions are very common but in India, according to me, these activities should not be encouraged. It may not be very comfortable for religious foundations and fanatic groups and then they will get an excuse for picking up an fight. On a slightly differnt note, I do think that the law will be able to change the social stigma associated with homo***uality. And regarding social stigma I don't think this law can change anything. Few sections of our society, metro cities perhaps will accept this better. While after this law, they can open up, the social stigma will continue for few years. It will take years to establish or digest these facts.

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Sid Makkar (Television actor. Recently played a gay character in a film Straight): It's definitely a right step in the right direction. Any civilised country can't form a law against a human being based on his/her ***ual preferences. No way can we call homo***uals or lesbians criminals. In that direction, this is the right step. According to me, if we are giving criminals a chance to stay behind bars, the gay community should get the right to live their lives without any fear and we should welcome this change whole heartedly. But there is long way to go, social pressures will always be there. But the gay community should have their patience and will power. And I personally think this act should have happened much earlier. This movement is just not a good thing for those who are gay but also for the hetero***ual community in our society.

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Samir Soni : (Noted film and television actor - Samir recently acted in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion where he portrayed a gay fashion designer) A very welcome law and one of the longest battles won. But let me clarify that things are not going to change over night. This change was also overdue. Discussion on hetro***uality also took time to settle in India. But no way can we call a homo***ual a criminal. Talking about social stigma, as I said only time and some good people can solve this. But there is a still a long way to go.

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Bobby Darling

(Bobby Darling is an actor whose original name is Pankaj Sharma. He sees himself as a woman inside the body of a man and as per modern medical terminology he is a trans***ual person.) I am overwhelmed with this law.

I can't tell you how I happy I am. I remember what Jawaharlal Nehru had once said, ‘Everybody in this country should have a right to live their own life.’ The new ruling vindicates that. This has been the longest struggles which has resulted in a positive result. Many of my friends who were hiding in a closet and not expressing their ***ual preferences due to social stigma, will now come out in the open.