[INTERVIEW] 'We need an umbrella law', LGBTQIA rights activist Sushant Divgiker on position of transgenders

Sushant Divgiker.  |  Photo Credit: Facebook

New Delhi: A psychologist, actor, model and singer, Sushant Divgiker dons many hats. He was crowned Mr Gay India 2014 and is known for being a vociferous advocate of the LGBTQIA community. Born and raised in the suburbs of Mumbai, Sushant started his career with youth television channels and soon carved a niche for himself through his vivid social media presence and eclectic views. 

Sushant, who says that he is both 'Shiv and Shakti', spoke to Mirror Now on the provisions made for queer people amid the COVID-19 pandemic and demanded respect for the transgender community.

For years, people from the LGBTQ community have been forced to live dual lives. However, in recent years, conversations around the topic have increased. Do you think this has led to increased acceptance towards the community?

There are always two sides to a coin. We had allies even when we did not have the law on our sides. When I was working in the media, I felt that my queerness was sensationalised. There were so many directors and scriptwriters who were evidently queer but they made content that made fun of people from the same community. Now, there's a lot more representation in mainstream media and stories have been normalised. We were a very diverse nation until the Britishers came and changed everything. These topics were not debated before the colonial era. Shame on all of us for accepting whatever the Britishers threw at us and shunning it only in 2018. We ostracised an entire community so much that they had to sell their bodies. Blood is on our hands. I'm very thankful that now they have written mandates on OTT platforms where they cannot trivialise queerness. I have never understood how people have neglected a whole community for so many years. Thankfully, now, people are more accepting of the community but they haven't completely changed. 

What is the major reason that causes people to resist those from sexualities that do not conform to their general idea of male and female?

It's very simple, it is because they are not comfortable with their own sexuality. You need therapy if you are threatened by someone else's sexuality. We are gay with our partners, with consent and within the confines of our personal spaces, we are not gay with every person walking on the streets. We also need to leave religion and politics out of this, this is about human rights. People are homophobic because they are scared of themselves. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) 3 and 4 of Mental Disorders disregard homosexuality as a disorder, so the argument that homosexuality is a disease is absolutely invalid. Saying that this is not in our culture is also wrong, I am more Indian than most people who are homophobic and have represented the country.

The whole country has been waging a war against COVID-19 and the second wave has hit us harder than before. Do you think enough provisions have been made for the LGBTQIA community?

People make tall claims about development but we don't even have separate washrooms for transgenders. The transgender population in India is in crores and all of them are on the streets. It's shameful. We make a huge hue and cry about transgenders begging on the traffic signals but what have we done for them? They don't even have health cover. We have not given them washrooms, let alone help them in the pandemic. Some of the states offered Rs 500 to members of the community. Is that amount enough for anyone? Members of the community are scared to get the vaccines because they will be judged. The lack of sensitisation programmes and lack of efforts on ground is very sad. If the government is so incapable of helping the community, it should allow us to help them and exempt us from paying tax. Where is the taxpayer's money going if it is not being used to help the people of India? Are we really trying to tell anyone out there that we have handled this well? Transgenders are last on the priority list, we are the 'others', after all. We only figure when the politicians want the votes, otherwise, we are not part of the society. 

What, according to you, can be done to improve the social position of people who have different sexual orientations than male or female?

We ask for respect, that is the first step. Give us an umbrella law, that's the minimum. The policy makers have been sleeping for all this while, they have to make an umbrella law that shuns all discrimination based on colour, gender, sex, caste. We are a sovereign, secular and democratic state, we need an umbrella law to protect our citizens. It's very hypocritical. We blame transgenders when they are forced to sell their bodies. What about the person buying them? What about men who approach them? We never address that. We need to condition kids from an early age. You cannot ask a 45-year-old man to abandon his beliefs all of a sudden, it needs to start in the cradle. We need to work on every aspect to make the country a better place for the community. Public servants must be taught that you need to give equality to all people. Transgenders all called to houses to bless newborns. For one auspicious day, we are involved in everyone's religion but what about the other days? Why is the community ostracised? So many people had to forgo their pride and ask for help during the pandemic. It was emotionally taxing. Imagine the trauma of a transgender who has to beg every time the traffic signal turns red. We have to improve the state of all transgenders, despite their religion, caste or colour. All kinds of discrimination should be made punishable by law. 

How do you deal with hate, snarky comments and stereotypes? What would you advice other members of the community to do?

I used to get very affected when I was younger. When I started hosting shows, I was a teenager working with youth channels. We never knew the exact comments of the viewers as there was no discussion on social media. I am very grateful that there was no social media then because I was very vulnerable. I would probably not have survived. Now, that social media does exist and so do trolls, I have to thank cyber crime. Shubham Singh, a  cyber crime official employed in Maharashtra, works relentlessly to help people who are being threatened. I would urge people to take a stand for themselves, to retaliate because we are not inanimate objects that can be sexualised. Young content creators should not let someone else's opinion dictate the narrative of their life. They are hating on you because they want your life. Toxic jealousy prompts people to be mean. Ignore the haters and make content for your admirers.