Indian Gay Friendly Heterosexual Celebrities - Part 1

The support to gay people is increasingly growing, day by day, which is a good thing and the right thing to happen. But homophobia still exists in many parts of the world, India is no exception. Hinduism has always been liberal, did not denigrate the sexual identities and gay characters can be seen in many of our Hindu epics. Still we are not at ease about the growing visibility and the support provided by NGO groups for gay rights and gay cause. We consider gay love as against nature even though there is ample scientific evidence to refute that claim. The principal opposition party in India, BJP (Bharthiya Janatha Party), whose ideology is built on Hinduism, is totally against the gay cause, they indeed categorically labelled it is as “unnatural”. We still embrace the Victorian morality which is an import of our erstwhile colonial  masters at the behest of the religious leaders and groups. Religious leaders are unanimous at least in this issue. They all don’t want “gay things”, at any cost. In many TV interviews, thank god, they did not say all gay men should be screened, identified and shot - a hunt similar to the witch hunt in the past can be proposed to eradicate the “gay disease”. The role of celebrities in removing the prejudice associated is immense as they have huge fan followings and can reach out to great length with the help of social media sites like twitter. But most celebrities are not willing to take care of this cause as they are afraid of getting their image tarnished. The celebrities who are actually homosexuals remain closeted because of the social stigma and never talks about gay issues. under such circumstances. We cannot expect the heterosexual celebrities to rally behind  us when “our own celebrities” are staying numb. Here are some of the Indian heterosexual celebrities who openly back gay people (at least in their talks).

 AMIR KHAN

The ever youthful Amir Khan

Amir Khan's female avatar in Coco cola ad.

     Amir khan, the most “cerebral actor” of Bollywood had indeed shown the courage to don many drag roles in the past like the ones he did in a Godrej advert, coco cola ad, TATA sky ad and his stint as a female dancer in Ashutosh Gowariker's 1995 action film “Baazi”. He is an actor who uses his brain pretty well and speaks out his mind even if the issue is contentious. 

In the film "Baazi"

During the wake of re-criminalization of Section 377,  he said that,

“I am more disappointed with this judgment. It feels very intolerant and violative of basic human rights. It's a shame”. Well said!!

JOHN ABRAHAM

He had no qualms in appearing in a “gay themed romedy”, “Dostana” (well, not gay themed in a stricter sense, but it definitely helped in bringing the “gay scene“ to limelight, though I believe the portrayal of gay men in that film was stereotyped). The film also seen him dauntingly flaunting his chiseled body (God, am I drooling?) and turning him into a “gay icon” overnight. He admitted that he has been hit regularly by gay men ever since and quipped “Look at the bright side, at the end of the day, it’s a compliment. Look at his answer to the question - How does it feel to be a gay icon? “If the women can, why not the men? Today homosexuality is so open world over. To think that the same gender likes you is a plus”. We hope, everybody thinks like you. He also said on possibility of turning gay ever, “I will turn gay only for Abhishek. He is my most beautiful co-star.” We admire you man. But you cannot “turn gay”. It is not a choice and it has nothing to do with beauty. Anyway, thank you for the support!!

FARHAN AKHTAR

The versatile Actor-director Farhan Akhtar tweeted: "The Supreme Court got it wrong today. Sec377." He is like Amir Khan records his strong statements just like in the case of Nirbhaya, he came out in support of LGBT people, he elaborated that “I feel it is a primitive law and does not have any place in today’s society. People have the freedom to choose who they want to be with. As long as they are consenting adults, they have the right to do what they want and I don’t think we should be peeping inside people’s bedrooms and telling them what to do".