TO THE WORLD, WITH LOVE – IDAHOT Celebrates Homosexuality

IDAHOT stands for International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. This May 17th, we celebrate more than a decade of World Health Organization’s decision (in 1990) to decriminalize homosexuality and stop categorizing it as a social evil.

The success of IDAHOT campaigns is deeply rooted in the fact that they celebrate severity of gender expressions across the world by bringing forth people from all walks of life. In 2005, they set up a committee, which works in collaborations with all active NGOs during the event and it’s been over a decade that they have worked rigorously in improving the scope and limitations of people from this community.

Celebrated in more than 120 nations, this campaign has become more of a movement of which anyone can be a part of. Interestingly, India is one of the nations where this day gets its due share of spotlight from media, government and people alike..

Thanks to organizations like The Humsafar Trust, a Mumbai based committee, who are diligently working for people adversely affected by taboos on HIV and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender).

We spoke to Shruta, member of the committee, who said, “Yaariyan is a 4-5 year old youth initiative under The Humsafar Trust that aims to understand and support different behavioral trends amongst the LGBT youth. As the name suggests, ‘Yaariyan’ was chosen to symbolize friendship and affection among people without discriminating.”

Sonal Giani, another member, told us that this year they introduced three activities for the IDAHOT event. One was a play, ‘Jiyo aur Jeene Do’ that highlighted the struggles faced by HIV positive and LGBT people. It also gave insights to the stigmas and taboos revolving around such delicate issues. There were four performances in and around Mahim (a district near Dharavi), which they plan to continue in different parts of the city throughout the year.

She also told us about the offline and online events that Yaariyan introduced; the former was a Bollywood Karaoke Night in Andheri, the proceeds of which went to the LGBT community and the latter was called ‘Say it with a Smash’ where applicants were asked to submit their dubsmashes along with a meaningful message supporting the community. Almost 20 people sent in their entries by 18th May and one winner was shortlisted who will then be sent to the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival (May 27-31).

‘Ek Madhav Baug’, a one of its kind play was shown on 10th May as a prequel to the IDAHOT. About this, Sonal said, “We designed the play in Marathi this time and noticed that it created a huge impact on the locals. We chose 10th May since it was Mother’s Day and this story talks about a mother who receives a phone call from a whiny man telling her that her son was gay and alleging that ‘he badly influenced my son too’. Soon after this, the mother comes across her son’s diary and relives his life, his emotions and hardships that he underwent in the process of discovering who he was and how, eventually, she accepts her son the way he was and provides him utmost support that he needs. This play is soon followed by discussions among people sharing their ideologies and how they felt about the play.”

For long now, any person who has come out in public with her/his slightly ‘different’ sexual orientation has faced many scuffles. But as they say, ‘there’s always a silver lining”, with all these events and initiatives run by noble organizations like The Humsafar Trust and alike, there’s definitely hope for everyone. The judicial system has been procrastinating many such issues that are important to the people of this country but till the time they come up with any concrete measures and Acts regarding the same, the onus lies on us to be part of such groups and contribute to its progress.

Think of it this way: love is a many gendered thing. To restrict and mark boundaries on who to love is questioning the only true component of the Universe: Nature.

We need to look at the other side of the coin as well; the worthy one.The first country to legalize gay marriage is The Netherlands (in 2000) after which a total of 15 other countries have followed its footsteps. Recently, Ireland became the first nation ever to legalize same-sex marriage through public voting.

Through IDAHOT, innumerable groups have initiated movements for all those who believed that they can’t be constrained to mainstream ‘rules of love’ across the world. And they will keep spreading love and harmony till the time this world is a more tranquil place where generations can go without fighting wars to win their love (ironic as it is).