OUT & VISIBLE

IIT Bombay hosts `Best of KASHISH’ film screening and panel discussion which brought together activists and filmmakers

”Stand up and be counted’’ – that was the blunt message delivered by noted filmmaker Aruna Raje and actor Mona Ambegaonkar at the ‘Best of KASHISH’ Film Screening and Panel discussion at IIT Bombay on January 29, 2014, as part of the Mumbai pride month celebrations by Queer Azaadi Mumbai (QAM).

The event was organized by KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film festival – South Asia’s and India’s biggest and only mainstream LGBT film festival along with SAATHI, the IIT LGBT campus group.

Best of KASHISH’ film screening and panel discussion brings together activists and filmmakers at IIT Bombay

Aruna Raje felt that KASHISH was a ‘Space of freedom’ – “a space where people presented through films what it meant for them when they were rejected or accepted by the society.’’

”Art and Culture are fabulous mediums through which people’s personal experiences become universal since they can express, be heard, understood, and enjoy freedom,’’ said Raje, adding, “Though the political scenario is frightening, the LGBT movement should stand up and reiterate that they can’t be dictated what’s good or bad for them. Sexual diversity should be accepted because, there is a whole lot of diversity in nature, and nature cannot be wrong!”

Mona Ambegaonkar said that one cannot expect to be treated equally by remaining in the closet. “Stand up and be counted. LGBT is a vote bank and since they are allowed to vote, ask for your rights in return,’’ said Ambegaonkar. She shared a poignant message she received from one of her friends “If you look into my bedroom, you don’t get my vote!” According to Ambegaonkar, a political fight was the need of the hour. “We no longer need to be safe, we need to be visible. All of life is a stage and we are all actors, we need to put up the right act,’’ said the actor.

Chitra Palekar, noted writer, actor, director, and an “out’’ parent of a lesbian daughter, who was also part of the panel discussion “11-12-13: What next?’’, said that she was shocked and upset at the Supreme Court judgment recriminalising homosexuality. “I am a law abiding citizen. This verdict will force many people to lie. My daughter, who is in Australia and in a relationship with her same-sex partner for 13 years can no longer come to India with dignity as she will be a criminal here,’’ said Chitra Palekar. She, however added that she was overwhelmed with the unprecedented support from various groups. “I have been meeting social, community, corporate and other groups like Rotary Club, and found them to be receptive and supportive for the cause of LGBT. The SC verdict, though regressive, has helped the movement in receiving solidarity,’’ said Palekar.
Feminist activist Chayanika Shah said that while the community was disappointed, there is a lot of outrage that has come to the forefront. “The movement against Sec377 that started in the 90’s seems to have gained a firm ground and we are receiving support from different sections of the society,’’ said Chayanika Shah.

Confronted with the argument that ‘activists made Sec377 popular and that made it such a big issue’, Pallav Patankar of the Humsafar Trust responded that Sec377 was always an issue. “MSM was identified as a risk-group in 1999. Since then, a lot of problems with respect to health intervention at grassroots level exist. Health workers have been arrested and imprisoned. HIV prevalence is 4% among MSM against 0.93% in the overall population. Police blackmail and extort money. People feel afraid to file complaints against this. So it was never a non-issue,’’ said Patankar.

Abheena Aher, a TG representative, said that an immediate aftermath of the verdict was that transgender persons feel more vulnerable to health hazards. “Married MSM are a high-risk group. In Delhi, police has banned Kothis from congregating at public places. TG leaders have been asked to discontinue sex work. Landlords refuse to provide space for drop-in-centers. There is fear and negative impact,’’ said Abheena

Prof. Narayan Parsuram, one-third of the band, Three Brothers and a Violin and a Professor at IIT, began his talk, singing couple of lines of the 400-year old composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar ‘hariharaputram shaasthaaram sadaa bhajeham’ and then said, “If the composer who was a Brahmin and a scholar in all the shastras did not find anything wrong with the union of Hari and Hara and created a verse celebrating it 400 years ago, why do we find something wrong in it now? Hence we must not get deterred by such verdicts,’’ he said adding that “we must ensure that our obsessions, including those with gender and sexuality, should not affect our being.”

Sonal Giani, a young bisexual activist had this to say, “We haven’t seen what it is not being free. Last four years I have been standing up against bullying. I feel powerful and free when people know about me. But right now I am angry and frustrated. Last four years of my work has inspired me. I want a change and I want to use my energy.””

Vikram Doctor, of GayBombay, said that while there is public support there was a need to keep the issue going. “The globe is polarized on this issue. Countries are either extremely supportive or extremely homophobic. The scene in Russian is scariest, where leaders are cleverly demonizing homosexuality for their personal pursuits. Global realities are pressurizing and we need to decide on which pole India stands.”

When asked whether ‘we can build a global community’, Parmesh Sahani, responded in the affirmative. “We have always received international support, but” he opined “this is our battle and we should fight it ourselves. We can no longer afford to be in the closet. There are a lot of heterosexual people out there willing to support us, but we need to come out and ask for support. Indian corporate managements are ready to support as well, but they need data and info and we need to give it to them.”

Chayanika, who has been working with various other issues like Feminism and Dalit rights felt that the fight against Sec377 is beyond individual identities. “While Dalit, women and other groups are supporting us to fight against our marginalization, we need to find out how we understand other kinds of marginalization and what we can do for them,’’ said Chayanika.

This led to Pallav shedding light upon the recent Queer & Political event that took place as part of QAM2014. The objective there was to take a political stand since it is imperative for us to do it as a community and a movement. We need to get politically mature. People felt that ‘queer’ was not the only issue or sexuality, the only axis. Only dialogue and discussion could give way to proper choice if we wanted to engage politicians with us.

“With the 11-12-13 verdict being awful, the way forward is going to be long. While we are fighting for Sec377, we need to look into other issues as well, We need to write books, make films, create art’’ said Sridhar Rangayan, filmmaker and festival director of KASHISH, who also moderated the panel discussion, “We would like KASHISH to be a platform where we can, through films and discussions, both celebrate and empathize with a wide range of LGBT and human rights issues”.

The panel discussion was preceded by the screening of award winning films from KASHISH – ‘Beyond The Team’, ‘Queen of my Dreams’, ‘Urmi’, ‘Taboo’ and ‘Kuch Palon Mein’ were some of the films that were screened.

The Panel discussion was followed by a closing screening of video of the energizing Flash Mob that was done outside Bandra Station by the LGBT youth group Yaariyan.