Journalism of Courage
The male sex is growing and women are getting eliminated. The days are not far when there will be no girls to marry and well all become gays, said Farooq Abdullah,the minister for new and renewable energy,on Thursday. The statement,made at the India Water Forum,has upset several members of the gay community. A silly and misinformed statement. I would not go as far as to say its anti-gay but it’s ridiculous that he has chosen to highlight something connected to violence against women by focusing on its implications on mens’ lives. This is a very macho statement that couches a lack of concern for women’s lives,seeing it only as a loss for men in the future, says Queer historian and activist Mario Depinah.
The latest Census figures have caused wide-ranging concerns. In 2001,there were 927 female children under six years for every 1,000 male children of the same age. In 2011,this dropped to 914 females for every 1,000 males. At the same time,these numbers have no co-relation with homosexuality. Ashok Row Kavi,Chair of the Humsafar Trust,who is currently working with the United Nations,says,We all know about the gender imbalance because of female foeticide in India. To connect that with a direct impact on male sexuality is rather far-fetched. It is sad that politicians can talk so irresponsibly, he says.
What is alarming is that Abdullah is more bothered about ‘gayness’ than the declining sex ratio and his statement shows a latent homophobia, adds Pramada Menon,a queer feminist activist.
