Several internet users called out Ayushmann Khurrana for being disrespectful and offensive.
On November 30, Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana shared a photo of himself featuring on the GQ cover. In the cover image, Ayushmann is seen sporting an outfit sourced from ace designer Amit Aggarwal's atelier. To complete his ever-so-chic look, Ayushmann opted for black nail polish and sported kohl-rimmed eyes to accentuate his overall look. As the caption alongside the photo, Ayushmann wrote, "Gender fluid." He followed it up with a black heart emoji.
While the idea of the cover itself may have been to highlight the increasing gender non-conforming and androgynous fashion being donned by stars across the world, but it was Ayushmann's captioned that did not go down well with internet users.
Several internet users called out the actor for being disrespectful and offensive. Social media users pointed out that nail paint or gender-neutral fashion selections could not be a green pass that one is gender fluid. Some even pointed out that his post veers towards the appropriation of queer identities, and in some cases, might even contribute to queerbaiting.
For long enough, Bollywood has been casting cisgender heterosexual stars to essay transgender and other queer persons' roles onscreen. Subsequently, Ayushmann was brutally trolled for his caption, which queer groups have called appropriation of marginalised identities. Although Ayushmann has deleted his tweet, the image and the caption still exists on his Instagram handle.
A queer awareness-raising group 'Yes We Exist' shared Ayushmann's image and wrote alongside it, "Gender-fluid people can identify as different gender identities at the same time or at different times." They also pointed out that his post comes ahead of the release of a transphobic film starring him in the lead role.
Take a look at some tweets and comments on Ayushmann's post:
Ayushmann has previously essayed the role of a gay man in 'Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan'. While his portrayal did little to represent the community, the film was appreciated for being progressive.
His next with Vaani Kapoor is 'Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui'.
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