India’s First Lesbian Ad Tests the Country’s Tolerance (where gay sex is illegal)

[Omaha Steve]

The clip is stirring a provocative debate in a country where gay sex is illegal.


(Photo: YouTube)


http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/11/india-s-first-lesbian-ad-tests-country-s-tolerance

JUN 11, 2015Rebecca McCray is a TakePart staff writer covering criminal justice and legal issues. She is based in New York.

In an airy, light-filled apartment, two Indian women are talking about what color kurta—a popular South Asian shirt—to wear and which silver earrings look best and borrowing each other’s eyeliner. At first glance, you’d think the women are roommates, maybe preparing for one woman’s parents to see their home for the first time. But it soon becomes clear that they’re a couple. And they are preparing to tell the truth about their relationship. “You sure about this?” one nervously asks the other. “I’m sure about us,” her partner replies. “I don’t want to hide it anymore.”

The ad is for Anouk, an ethnic apparel company that has popularized the tagline “Bold is beautiful.” It’s India’s first ad featuring a lesbian couple, and it has gone viral across social media, with more than 3 million views in just 10 days. This is a big deal for India, whose Supreme Court in 2013 restored a colonial 1860s law banning gay sex. The court’s decision reversed a lower court’s 2009 ruling decriminalizing gay sex, making the act punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the country have faced increased persecution since the 2013 ruling.

Yet, in April 2014, the Supreme Court decided to recognize transgender people as a third gender with protected human rights and special benefits. India has long had a conflicted relationship with transgender people, simultaneously fearing and revering them. In spite of the 2013 ruling, advocates say attacks on India’s transgender community continue, and the law is not adequately enforced. Still, transgender people have risen to prominent positions recently. In May, the first transgender college principal was appointed, and in March, the first transgender mayor was elected. India’s LGBT community has also received support from the country’s Bollywood film and music industries. Many actors and musicians joined protests following the 2013 ruling to voice their opposition to the resurrection of the colonial-era law.

FULL story at link.