OPINION | Shillong’s first ever successful Pride Walk after SC verdict- Why sadists can keep whining

OPINION (Name withheld on request) | September 17, 2018

February 14 is usually celebrated as Valentine's Day and I have never come across people in Shillong vehemently opposing the celebration of this day, although it has nothing to do with our culture and tradition, and why? Well, because it is a celebration of 'Love' and love has no barriers? Well I had this notion too, but only until September 14, 2018!

September 14 also witnessed a celebration of 'Love' accompanied with 'Freedom'. Shillong witnessed its first ever Pride Walk after the Supreme Court's historic verdict on Section 377 of the Indian Constitution which decriminalised gay sex. And for once, I thought, 'Yes, gradually but finally we are doing away with the colonial hangover', but little did I know that 'Angrez chale gaye lekin angreziyat yahi chorgaye'.

It is true everybody has the right to freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and that is respected very much! But, what right does one have to abuse a member of the LGBTQIA community on a social media platform and call them abusive names (But for their information again, Hijra is not an abusive slur)? What right does a person have to be able to act in an inappropriate manner and make obscene comments and signals towards the member of the LGBTQIA community while they were walking the Pride Walk?

What if any member of the LGBTQIA community had done the same thing to a gender conforming person? Would they be spared? Of course we know the answer!

While the real world is definitely a hostile place for the LGBTQIA members, the virtual world is certainly not one where they can feel safe, not even behind the screens. I say this because the venom spewed by these haters is so strong that their psychological repercussions cannot be ignored.

But let me tell you that the members of the community are not willing to get bogged down by these hate speeches hurled at them and the testimonies of the participants of the Pride Walk is reason enough to teach the world, especially the Shillongites to become a little more loving and non-discriminatory!

Dona Marwein, an LGBTQ activist who participated in the Pride Walk is of the view that the society still has a long way to go in terms of accepting the community or even being tolerant towards them.

"We are so glad that we had this parade and moreover this is the first pride walk in the country after the Supreme Court verdict and many people have come out and joined us for this walk. Students, NGOs and numerous supporters came forward to join us. Many people from outside Meghalaya- from Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Delhi and Assam came forward to show their solidarity with the community within a very short period of time. But this is only the first step towards our work and the people still have a long way to go in terms of changing their mind set in this regard".

But the response of certain sections of people who are part of this very society speak volumes about the future of LGBTQA in Shillong .

Another participant of the Pride Walk Nicky said, "I feel very blessed for the LGBTQIA community in Shillong. The Pride Walk saw the participation of more than 100 people. I hope people will understand that even we exist in Meghalaya".

Vishal Blah, an LGBTQIA activist opines,  "We are very grateful for the support shown to us by the people of Shillong. Despite the heavy rain, people turned out in large numbers. And as the rain subsided and the rainbow appeared, we knew for sure that even Nature was with us as Love sees no barrier of any sort. All in all, the pride walk was a successful one".

However, where on the one hand, love and freedom was being celebrated, on the other, some so called preachers of religion tried to play spoilsport. But Vishal rightly adds here that, "It is high time now for us to come out and fight for our rights and not be bogged down by such indecent acts."

While on the one hand, members of the LGBTQIA community have geared up to face the challenges that come with the scraping off of Section 377, a group of fanatics are leaving no stone unturned to make people believe that the 'END IS NEAR' . And hypothesis like 'The End is Near' has been doing the rounds on social media.

Well, I don't know about "The End" as such, but I am sure that Rationality has certainly come to an end after seeing certain posts on social media platforms. While one section of fanatics seem to have lost their rationality, another section is openly declaring its trans phobia through comments like these-

"live as you wish ….dont attract our kids in our homeland…by show off in public shame on you!".

And comments like, "Ufff….. HIIJR**…you dont accept God's will how can we accept u in our society?" are also being thrown at the members of community.

But comments like these throw light into an important aspect of the human behaviour in this part of the world- While it is perfectly okay to adopt the western norm of celebrating Valentine's Day and smooching and expressing PDAs in public because well, that makes one look so broadminded and stylish and so much in love, but it seems only 'Straight People' have the right to openly love!

However, it is not okay to accept a transgender. And mind you, transgenders have occupied an important role in ancient times, even before the invasion of the British looters who looted India, not only of its wealth, but also of its Rational thinking abilities, the repercussions of which is being borne even after the SC's historic verdict.

They say "A good Fanatic is always ready for an argument", and yes, I know for sure that there is going to be a lot of such arguments in future on and off social media, and even over this article. But the good news is that there is no law above the law of the land and the SC verdict towers tall enough for fanatics to die down.

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