'Now that we are legal, make it illegal to harass us'

I was at work when, on the live webcast of a news channel, I found out about the Delhi High Court ruling. I couldn't help but scream out, "Yessss! I'm finally legal", and ended up startling my colleagues.

My initial jubilation was shared by many, both within and outside the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community. I heartily congratulate and thank all those involved in the movement that led to this historic judgment. Who amongst us wouldn't celebrate our becoming "not illegal" after such a lengthy and arduous struggle?

However, as a pragmatic gay activist, I realise that this is the first minor victory in a protracted, uphill battle. The ground-level situation of an open homosexual in India remains socially perilous. From the constant homophobic banter at the workplace — which in my case was KEM Hospital — to the threat of getting beaten up in a police lock-up for no reason at all, life is tenuous and stifling.

One of the reasons I put my promising career as a surgeon on hold to try my luck as a musician was to enjoy the freedom to be myself. But not everyone has luxuries such as an accepting family and an alternative career to consider, or an enlightened circle of friends. Hence, it is essential that we work towards a state of social equality.

We have waited so long for this crumb of approval that we are likely to fall into a state of complacency, thinking that we have "made it". But that, sadly, is far from the truth. In fact, the recent ruling will inflame the more radical wings of conservative sentiment and could, in fact, lead to an even more hostile stance against us. Now we need a law criminalising harassment of our community.

I was at the receiving end of discrimination during the hunt for an apartment for me and my partner. I even had to ask a woman, a good friend of mine, to pose as my wife. If responsible adult citizens are denied a place to live with their same-sex partners in a city like Mumbai, have we actually progressed as a nation?

We shouldn't be grateful for the high court decision decriminalising us — showing gratitude would be like kissing the torturer for loosening the shackles. We were always legal at every rational and moral level, and for that to have been confirmed by the court was merely stating the obvious.