Rainbow comes out at ZeeJLF

Steady rain through the night which threatened to wash out the second day of the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival (ZeeJLF) did anything but that for thousands of literature lovers who thronged the Diggi Palace for the literary carnival. Those who gladly accepted venue change to dry areas and shorter sessions (since there are fewer closed dry areas were blessed with a glorious rainbow in the form of a special session - 'Coming Out: Tales They Don't Tell' - dealing with the politics of sexual identity and coming out.

Packed with nearly 1,500 people, the venue for the session saw a huge turnout with many choosing to stand and even squat in front of the stage. "In India there seems to be a whole culture of invisibilising the gay community. "People who come out to their parents are often told to keep quiet about it to the outside world. Unlike Elsewhere instead of coming out of the closet when they come out, here entire families enter the closet shutting it tight," lamented celebrated mythologist-writer Devdutt Patnaik who wondered why this is the case when our own tradition is replete with instances of non-hetero normative behaviour by even Gods and Goddesses. In his inimitable style, he underlined a folksy narration of a mythological story by Baul singers in Bengal. "Here Kali sits astride Shiva and declares that she wants to rid the Earth of its misery by becoming Krishna. A concerned Shiva, worried about being separated from his consort immediately retorts, 'In that case, I too will go down to Earth as your consort Radha.'"

South African author and journalist Mark Gevisser who also works with an NGO active with fishing community off Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu agreed with Patnaik but pointed out how whether the world likes it or not, LGBTQ community is making an effort to assert itself and demand equality. "A huge spectrum of gay men who range from being completely effeminate to passively gay identify themselves as kothis only. Though they don't even use the word 'gay' they've found a way to get their community and families in whom they find support to accept them creating socially acceptable kothi religious practices," he explained.

Australian novelist of Greek origin Christos Tsiolkas agreed that he too found it extremely difficult coming out to his family becayuse unlike the Western left liberal narrative which envisaged moving away from the family, he wasn't prepared for it. "Despite it being acceptable in Australia it wasn't easy I came from a Greek family. So much so that when I first came out to my mother she did not know the word gay and I had to say I am pousti which means faggot."

Empathising with this, Gevisser who's co-written Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa with Edwin Cameron said he understood what it meant to be put into several boxes together. "I am sure it's the same in India too where it can be doubly tough if you are both gay and lower-caste." He spoke passionately about how in South Africa too being black and gay was really tough in times of apartheid. "SA went through the same discriminatory phase with homosexuality. So much so that whether and how you got persecuted by police if caught would depend on what underwear you were wearing. In a way it was like, you can cross dress however you want but when they stripped you at the police station, you had to be 'male' inside," he pointed out. Sarah Waters underlined how even in countries with strong laws against discrimination, homophobia couldn't be completely wished away. "Gay's The Word is located in Bloomsbury in Central London and despite the legal protection, every single day before the staff opens the doors they have to clean the spit from it."

Moderator Sandip Roy ended the session pointing out how there was still hope in India. "In Russia Puttin would have had us all thrown into prison under the LGBT propaganda law. Thankfully, we can sit here at ZeeJLF, talk about these issues and have so many people brave the wet weather to come listen to us."