Like all majorities everywhere, straight people have enjoyed many things that are deliberately, even maliciously, denied to the minorities. The LGBT community has been fighting a very long, very hard battle for basic human rights — the right to love, the right to marry, the right to be.
The heterosexual community has monopolized love and heartache — the most basic of all human experiences — and their expression, for as long back as one can remember. Greeting card companies recognize only straight love, television shows have been tailor-made for straight audiences, even radio shows about love and its ups and downs focus mainly on straight relationships.
In a just world, a platform to talk about what ails one’s heart, or even to declare one’s feelings, wouldn’t be beholden to sexual orientation, but, as things stand, all the love gurus on Indian airwaves have been singularly focused on heterosexual coupling and its many vagaries.
Until now.
Little by little, the colors of the rainbow have begun to bleed through the chinks in the armor of Indian mass media. First came the web series about gay lives and loves, then came movies like ‘Kapoor and Sons’, and ‘Dedh Ishqiya’.
And now, gay rights activist, Harish Iyer, recently started hosting the first radio show dedicated to LGBT issues in India. The show airs every Sunday at noon in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Kolkata on Ishq 104.8.
So, if you’re tired of having to change pronouns every time you talk about your partner; or if you need someone to listen to your story sans judgment; or if you just want to listen to stories that resonate with you, tune in, listen, participate.
QueerIndia finally has a platform on which to tell their stories. Go unburden yourself. Be a part of the narrative. Maybe someone out there might find hope in your story, or courage, or catharsis. Or maybe you might.
#SpeakOut