Bhubaneswar: In A City Of Temples, LGBTQIA+ Pride Parade Marks A Wave Of Change

In Odisha, most people believe that homosexuality is an equivalent term for transgenders. ¡°¡¯Ye toh chhakka hai¡¯, that is how people remark,¡± says Rohit (name changed), a 26-year-old health professional who hails from Berhampur.

Coming out of the closet is a tough row to hoe in a city which is known for its temples and holds religion to its heart, which in an Indian context, somehow closes the doors to acceptance for homosexuality.

Homosexuality is a subject to which people stay oblivious. It doesn¡¯t exist for people, barring those who identify themselves in the ever-widening ambit of LGBTQIA+ or are familiar with the concept of sexual orientation in the state.

Bhubaneshwar is getting its first Pride on September 1 and for the LGBTQIA+ community of the state, this marks the end of silence and isolation.

Visibility and freedom from seclusion

¡°Bhubaneshwar Pride for me is the visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community and the voice for its people. It is a way to show that we exist and that we no different human beings from others. It is just the beginning and with more awareness, it will hopefully change people¡¯s attitude,¡± adds Rohit.

Rohit says that there are children who are assaulted, abused and even raped in schools. Boys with little feminine side are bullied. ¡°I was bullied as a child and during my school days,¡± says Rohit, who is open to his sister and a few friends. For him, coming out to his parents isn¡¯t an option because of the patriarchal stronghold.

Dealing with the stigma in Tier II cities

Not every Indian state has been successful in hosting a Pride. National capital New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Pune are a few of the Indian cities that have hosted Pride. Very few Tier II cities have had this privilege and Bhubaneshwar marks a dynamic shift.

¡°We are made up of Tribals, construction workers who keep migrating, displaced villages where industrialists have built their enterprises and street vendors. For a state like this, LGBTQIA movements cannot exist in isolation, without being intersectional. This Pride will not only address the LGBTQIA problems but also the general constructs of the society like shame, untouchability, class bias and sex discrimination within and outside the community and the majority deciding what is best for minorities,¡± says Bijaya Biswal, a 22-year-old organiser of the maiden Bhubaneshwar Pride 2018.

Organising such events in a Tier II city is an uphill battle. In Odisha, the absence of LGBTQIA+ community is the foremost challenge. The community was never under one umbrella because they have remained completely invisible and closeted. For Bijaya, it took almost a year to only build up discreet networking to connect them to each other and build a collective.

¡°To only build up discreet networking to connect them to each other, and build a collective,¡± she says.

Most Tier II cities do not believe in LGBTQ Pride parades. The question: ¡°Why do we need to talk about sexuality when we have poverty and unemployment yet unresolved?¡± Bijaya says that the straight community can talk about poverty because they never faced problems with their sexuality. ¡°The rights and acceptance came to them naturally and they never had to fight for it,¡± she points.

LGBTQIA+ community has multiple layers. The trans does not share the problems of the LGBQ. While the former is outcast since an early age from the family for being what they are, the revelation of the latter is not so obvious and they might go on for ages in their masks and dual lives, often ending up in bad marriages before even coming out of the closet.

Odisha has an organised trans community, state-funded in skill training and education programs, which are as efficient as all other government programmes. Bijaya says that for trans people, it is easy to find solidarity.

¡°Being a sex-positive heterosexual woman itself is considered an aberration even now, then how do we imagine the same society accepting a homosexual woman?¡± she asks.

Ankita, who hails from Jamshedpur, a sort of neighbour to Bhubaneshwar, feels that Pride is big deal. ¡°It gives me a sort of relief, happiness and comfort that that places like Bhubaneshwar are finally talking about LGBTQIA+ community. The feeling of mere acknowledgement is surreal in a way,¡± she says.

Ankita is a 23-year-old bisexual woman and a final year Masters student. She says that most people tell her that she is another confused woman. ¡°I¡¯ve heard so many comments about me being confused and not able to find a good guy and that I am also OK with cheating in a relationship. And all this comes from people who are well-educated.¡±

Ankita¡¯s family isn¡¯t aware of her sexual orientation. Her siblings and cousins are and are very supportive of her choices.

¡°And I think that¡¯s what I need now.¡±

In most cases, financial dependency on parents acts as a mammoth barrier in coming out of the closet. The fear that they will be kicked out of the house and will not be accepted for who they are, most from the LGBTQIA+ community do not admit their orientation in front of their parents. For many, the plan seems to become financially independent and leave the parents¡¯ house for good. In most patriarchal households, just like in case of Rohit¡¯s, the stigma associated with being gay is massive.

The society has been divided into binaries and it will take time to become more inclusive. Homosexuality is among the things that are not accepted in the society and are mostly suppressed by it. Society always wants to suppress things in which it doesn¡¯t believe, for instance, women making their own life decisions.

¡°People want me to consult a doctor because they consider homosexuality to be socially immoral, unnatural and a hindrance to religion. I have been judged just all other from my community," says Ruble Roy Choudhary, who is out only to a few of his friends, teachers, cousins and a few relatives. Ruble seeks to be financially independent as soon as possible so that he can finally address his sexual orientation in front of his parents.

Bhubaneshwar Pride isn¡¯t just an event, it an emotion. Thousands have been waiting for this moment to arrive. For long, the Indian society has been a victim of social hegemony and prejudice, but times are now changing.