Sec 377: LGBT members celebrate ‘freedom’

Ludhiana: Living on the edge and in fear till now, members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community in the city came all out to celebrate the historic judgement on decriminalisation of gay sex by the constitution bench of Supreme Court on Thursday.
They celebrated the occasion by dancing on the beats of dhols in the city, which has a sizeable population of LGBT community.
After the five judge bench of the Supreme court on Thursday unanimously said consensual adult gay sex is no crime, members of LGBT community gathered at the office of an NGO which had been fighting for their rights. Later, the members of LGBT community including transgenders danced on some freedom songs.
“It is a historic moment for the LGBT community as we had been fighting for our rights for the past several decades. In the end, our fight yielded fruits with Supreme Court decriminalizing gay sex. Though members of our community had called us to Delhi, we couldn’t join the celebrations. But, we were in constant touch with the petitioners,” said Mohini Mahant, a transgender, who had become the first member of a bench constituted for Lok Adalat on July 14.
The gay community nevertheless is elated and has hailed the SC’s judgment on Section 377.
“For 72 years, we had been fighting for our rights. During this time, we faced a lot of hardships. We did not get our due place in the society and lived under the fear of being harassed by the system. But, now we can think of living a dignified life,” said 33-year-old Madan, a psychologist from Ram Nagar, who works in a drug de-addiction centre and has done BA and Masters in Social Work. He said there were several members of gay community in Ludhiana and elsewhere, who still feel shy in coming forward because of social stigma. Representatives of gay community claimed that there were around 20,000 to 25,000 community members in Ludhiana, but many don’t come forward because of fear of acceptance in the society.
Meanwhile, social activists were also happy with the Supreme Court verdict.
“We are celebrating the justice for LGBT community. In fact we had filed a petition in the high court for voting rights and construction of separate toilets for them to them earlier this year. In January, we had brought the matter to the notice of the district election authorities so that they can contest elections,” said Keemti Rawal, a social activist.
Box: Areas where LGBT community live in city: Chandigarh Road, Jamalpur, Ram Nagar, Tajpur Road, Basti Jodhewal, Sahnewal, Saleem Tabri, Dhuri Lane, Haibowal, and Dugri.
Box: Tale of a Gay
Rahul Kumar, 23, of Sahnewal, an accountant with a company, said, “I knew that I am a gay since long, but didn’t reveal it to anyone including my parents. Like me, most members of the community would think that it is better to die rather than live in fear.”
“But then I met many community members and got a lot of information about my sexuality. During second year of my graduation, when my parents started asking me about my marriage, I told them that I am a gay. My father told me not to worry and he will get me treated for the “problem”, but I told him that it is not a physical or health problem. He might have feared how will he face the society, but I told him that I am happy with the way I am,” he added.
“I am lucky that I got supportive parents and they accepted my sexuality. Later, I came to know about Section 377 and its implications on us. Since then we were anxiously waiting for SC judgment for decriminalizing gay sex. And on September 6, our community got real freedom. Now we can publicly hold hand of community members and have physical relation without the harassment from police. We also hope that Supreme court comes up with direction on child adoption, living relationships for our community as it has asked for more time.”
Couple’s reaction
The couple, who identified themselves as Ajay (male) and Tanya (transgender), said they had been living together for the past 16 to 17 years on Kakowal road. They added that they would experience unknown fear and would face harassment and social stigma before the judgment.
“The society doesn’t have any problem with two males living together, but the moment they declare they are couple and love each other, problem starts and the same society considers it bad. We know it will take time for the society to accept this new judgement.”
Radha Mahant, who was petitioner in the plea filed by a city-based NGO before the high court ahead of MC elections, said they are happy with the judgement and want equal rights for the LGBT community.