Apni Khaki actor Ankit Bathla believes the country has come a long way in terms of accepting the LGBTQIA+ community. He feels anyone’s sexual and gender identity is their personal choice, and no one has the right to comment on it.
“I strongly believe that we have come a long way, and also, for me personally, love is love. It has nothing to do with who and how you love. It’s all about the choices that one has in their life. So earlier, a younger man and an older woman were taboos, which still are; similarly, homoesextuality and LGBTQI+ are taboos, but I genuinely believe that theres a long way we have come,” he said. He also stressed that since same-sex marriage is not yet legal in the country, many people try to hide their sexual identities. But he feels that accepting one’s identity is for their own good. “In the country we are in, it is not yet legal to have same-sex marriage. There are a lot of people who prefer to be in the closet. There are certain people who probably will not come out even when it becomes legal. So all I would say is that it’s important to accept yourself then the society’s acceptance will not matter.”
Ankit also believes that social media has helped a lot in starting a positive conversation regarding this community. “In fact, when the petition was filed, a lot of celebrities, Bollywood stars started talking about it on social media, and there have been amendments to the policy, and we are progressing towards more acceptance of love in general. So yes, social media is a great conversation starter. And I just hope that it is not really just a conversation for the pride month but an ongoing talk .
He also credited the movies being made in Bollywood today that are doing their bit to create a positive atmosphere for the community. “While growing up as a kid, I do not remember seeing any film or series where there would be an LGBTQI+ angle to it, but of course now there is. There’s a lot of acceptance towards it as well, as parents understand it. The elderly also understand it. So, of course, this is a great way of bringing awareness to society. And in fact, I have heard recently that Balaji, Ekta Kapoor is also going to produce a television show based on same sex love story. There have been a couple of web series, but now it will probably be a television show as well,” he said.
So what more can be done? “I think we are going in the right direction. There is a lot more awareness that is already coming than there was earlier. So I would say, let’s keep the momentum going . Let’s keep having conversations. There is a film festival that is organized every year for LGBTQI+ movies. It has come to the cinema; it is going to come to television. So it’s part of our daily lives now. So I think this is the perfect step to take.”
