Actor Imran Khan says that the discrimination against the LGBTQ community in India has the potential to embarrass the country.
“I am not proud of the manner in which my industry portrays the LGBTQ community,” Khan said while participating in a discussion on LGBTQ Rights in India at the annual India Conference 2016 organised by the Indian students of Harvard University on February 6.
“To me it is ludicrous that we have to discuss this at all. To me it is ludicrous that we have to talk about gay rights. It is human rights. It is basically an issue of civil liberties,” Khan said to a packed auditorium.
“I fear that this is one of those things that has the potential to embarrass our country on the world stage. When we are talking of India shining and there is a massive, unprecedented growth, then we are also under the global spotlight. The world is looking at us on what we do on this,” he added.
Khan hoped that Bollywood, too, would catch up with the times.
“I do not want us to be standing there with egg on our face. It has to happen, in which Bollywood portrays LGBTQ as a normal person,” he said.
Parliamentarian Jay Panda was of the view that with the Supreme Court deciding to review its previous ruling on Section 377 (which criminalises gay sex) of the Indian Penal Code, the country is at a very pivotal moment. It could either be a historic moment for the country or end up being two steps forward and one step backward.
Panda said there is much greater acceptance and awareness of the issue not only in society, but also among parliamentarians and political parties. “I see this as a crack in the door,” he said.
Ridhika Batra, director FICCI USA, said that India has taken a number of measures to address the discriminatory policies towards the LGBTQ community. “But there is need to do more,” she said.
