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India’s Gay Pride
Several of the anthology contributors live in India. The LGBTQ issues and laws in the USA are slightly different from those in India. The struggles, the bullying, the discrimination, the hate crimes, the stigma, and the HIV problems are quite similar. However, some people may say that American gays have a slight advantage. When you step into the shoes of a LGBTQ person in India, you will learn that:
- there is no way to officially track the number of gays beaten, sexually assaulted and raped by police and there is no justice
- there are no landord/tenant courts to help gays who are evicted by landlords for being gay
- gays can be detained and “treated” with aversion therapy (electric shock) for their “mental disorder“
- some families abuse, disown, beat, and even kill gay family members
The good news is that gay sex is no longer a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. There is a steady rise of gay rights and human rights organizations, activists and supporters who work diligently to improve circumstances for gays in India. Gays in India are constantly being challenged, but the population continues to gleam with gay pride.
The poems, letters, narratives, essays, and articles submitted by the earnest writers in India will make you think, cry and maybe even laugh. When I stepped into the shoes of contributors in India, I learned that the desire to have acceptance, fair treatment and love is universal!
Peacefully yours!
Today feels like a Straight Saturday!
It was late yesterday when I read online articles and tweets that shouted to the world that New York finally legalized same-sex marriage. Gay men and women are crying tears of joy and proposing to their long-time partners. I’m happy for them!
A couple of the articles I’ve read online were posted by Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/25/us-gaymarriage-newyork-idUSTRE75N5ZA20110625) and the Chicago Tribune (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-nys-new-gay-marriage-law-passes-celebrities-weigh-in-20110624,0,5107305.story?track=rss).
As always, when reading online articles there are other headlines that catch my attention. As I scrolled down the page on the Chicago Tribune site, I saw a controversial headline, Bill Maxwell: Homophobia, It’s a Black Thing, that just begged me to click on it. This article (http://scrippsnews.com/content/maxwell-homophobia-its-black-thing) addressed some oppositional views of those who are adamantly against same-sex marriage.
Before the law passed in NY, Tracy Morgan was at the center of an anti-gay controversy. Other famous (and non-famous) Blacks have been noted as being homophobic. I can’t respond to the notion of homophobia being a Black thing. I am a heterosexual Black female and I’m promoting Step Into My Shoes: Expressions from the LGBTQ Community, an anthology I compiled and edited. I guess I missed the memo on homophobia being a Black thing.
Rev. Bernice King, the youngest child of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a very strong and active opponent of same-sex marriage. Her father is a huge inspiration for me and many in the world who believe in humanity, equality, compassion, and peace. How can the child who sat in the arms of her Civil Rights activist mother at the funeral of her humanitarian, peace promoting and Civil Rights activist father (in that famous photo) become a monger of anything that represents inequality? Her father died in the midst of a battle that really has not ended. I would think that Bernice King would put her time and energy into the ongoing struggle to end discrimination and promote equality.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow, feels like a Straight for Equality day.
Peacefully yours,
jafansta101
jafansta 