Gaycation

We're on our next stop around the world in India,

and we're in a goddamn rickshaw.

From the outside, India may seem like a paradox.

It's one of the few cultures in the world

that can trace its roots to the beginning of recorded history,

but it's also a new country,

celebrating only 70 years of independence.

With a billion people and 22 official languages,

there are countless differences between regions.

But what unites Indians

is the spirituality of Eastern religions

and the legacy of British colonial rule.

It's this duality that allows Indian law

to recognize a third gender,

but also stigmatize homosexuality.

So we want to learn more

about the LGBTQ experience here in India.

"Gaycation: India."

We're in India's largest city Mumbai, formally Bombay,

to understand what it's like for the LGBTQ community

in contemporary India.

We've been invited to the Godrej Culture lab,

an experimental idea space

inside one of India's largest conglomerates

to meet one of its innovators, Parmesh Shahani.

- Yes. - Hi.

He wrote the book on being gay in Bombay.

It's called "Gay Bombay."

- Welcome to Godrej. - Thank you.

I'm going to give you a big adventure.

- We have to hold hands together. - Wow.

That's cool.

- That is how you start out an interview? - Yep. Welcome to India.

Thank you.

Quite the setup.

We clearly know about your book, "Gay Bombay,"

and that you are an expert in your country on queer culture.

- Yeah. - And from your point of view,

what are some of the questions we should be asking?

What are some of things we should be thinking about?

Sure. I think the first thing

that you should think about as you go on India Gaycation

is that in India, the trajectory of being LGBT is not...

It's not linear at all, but there are

deep historical narratives.

We have are own LGBT mythologies.

So to understand that...

What's happening on the LGBT scene today

is an interplay both between our history, our mythology

and of our presence in a very globalized LGBT environment.

Um, but I think being queer here is really about community.

You are not queer alone.

You know, you're queer in your family,

you're queer with your friends, you're queer at work.

Every decision you take is not about self.

Maybe you can also speak to the impact of colonialism and

sort of what that has meant

- for the community in this country. - Sure.

Sure. So, pre-colonial India had a range of possibilities,

and you can see it if you look at our text.

The colonial project was about,

you know, simplifying and classifying.

The British gave us

Section 377, which is very problematic.

And I think the reason why this law stays

and why there is so much discrimination in society itself

is because of nationalism.

It's because in this imagination of India post-independence,

LGBT diversity is something that was ignored.

And I think a lot of people absorbed colonial,

in hangover, kind of their colonial values and mind-sets.

Section 377 is a 19th-century British imposed law

that criminalizes intercourse "against the order of nature,"

which has been interpreted to persecute homosexuals.

Though it was lifted for consenting adults in 2009,

it was fully reinstated in 2014.

And so the fight for LGBTQ rights in India continues.

We can't go back in the closet.

There isn't any such closet

now that I can go back to.

This law, Article 377,

what power does it actually have?

The fact that this law exists

means that any man who's LGBT is always afraid.

It's often used as a form of threat.

It's often used as an excuse to not give people rights.

It's just something which is fundamental

to our being recognized as citizens in our own country.

- Right. - It's a very base argument.

We just don't want to be criminal.

But in 2009, when that was repealed, right?

- Yeah. - People were coming out of the closet.

There was a real celebration, and I would assume,

some sort of feeling of liberation that happened.

The High Court thing came,

we had all these celebratory marches,

and then suddenly, this thing comes

as one big slap to everyone's face.

And then what do you do? I mean, you're all out, right?

It made

everyone realize that a journey towards equality

is not a linear journey.

It's not that we will have progress, progress, progress.

There will be setbacks, right?

So I think the Supreme Court reversal, while

very wrong, has actually galvanized the community to act

together, to strategize better.

And over the long term,

I think it will lay the foundations for

- a better future. - Right.

- Walk and talk? - Walk and talk.

- Yeah. - This building is beautiful.

- Yeah. - Wow. Okay.

- Oh, is that a swing? - Yeah.

- You want to swing? - Can I sit on it?

- Yeah. - You can fit how many people on this?

- Three. - Three, all right.

I don't trust that.

All right. This is fine.

So, what do you do for fun?

Me?

- Well... - Like, in a gay way,

and also in a non-gay way.

So where do you hang out?

So gays hang mostly on Grindr.

We should put you down.

I'm sure yours is a sight to behold.

So wait, there's this law, but it's like actually really easy

to get on Grindr and like...

- like that? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course.

Well, it sounds like there still is a network for gay men.

So, as the sun sets over the city, we wonder,

what's the gay night life like?

So, there's a party for the gay community in Mumbai.

I left Ellen at the hotel,

and I'm going to go in by myself

and see what's going on and check out the scene.

So, wait, what the hell's going on in there?

It's a gay party, which is hosted by gay Bombay.

People who are out there inside dancing,

all of them are not out.

Hence, they need that safe space.

- Got it. - And because they need that safe place,

they come to "G" parties because

they want the parties completely safe.

Do you know, like, I do have straight friends,

and I do go clubbing with them,

but I can't do my, like,

belly dance or something over there.

I don't really feel comfortable.

Tell me, from your point of view,

what it's like to be gay and live in Bombay.

You do find homophobic people,

but if we actually compared the scenario in India,

Bombay's quite a cool place

because you have safer space, party every Saturday.

And you feel... you feel totally comfortable

just being out and being proud, yeah?

- Pretty much. - Very much.

Love that. So, are you a couple?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Wow, the first couple I've seen tonight.

- You're out, yeah? - Oh, yeah. Very.

You're open about your sexuality,

- and you're open about being a couple - Yeah.

- out in public? - Can't help it.

Can't help it? What do you mean by you can't help it?

It becomes fairly obvious at times.

So the bottom line, this party's, like,

really important to your expression,

to your identity, and to your future?

I think it has given me the courage to stand strong

and be myself and say, "Yes, I am a proud gay man,

- a homosexual man." - Right.

All right. Thanks, guys. I'll leave you alone.

- See you, man. - But I'll see you in there.

- Thanks, man. - Nice meeting you.

I'm sweaty.

There seems to be a strong community for gay men,

at least under the cover of night.

What's life like in the light of day?

And we can't help but ask,

where are the women?

India's known for the tradition of arranged marriages.

Even today, they still make up

88% of all marital unions here.

Matchmaking apps and social listings

have modernized the search for a partner,

but it's the still the imperative of the parent

to make sure their child finds an appropriate husband or wife.

Article 377 in the books,

marriage equality isn't up for debate.

But like any mother, Padmav wanted her son

to continue in the family tradition,

so she placed a matrimonial ad

in the local paper

requesting a groom for her son.

- Oh, hi. - Hi.

- Hi. - Hi. I'm Ian.

- Nice to meet you. - Ellen.