Lit festival a booster for LGBTQ to pen their tales of pain, suffering

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 17

For LGBTQ writers, writing offers a chance to tell their stories of pain, suffering and abuse truthfully. It gives them a chance to raise voice for their often denied and violated rights.

“If you don’t wield a pen yourself, someone else will write about you. And as we often see, the portrayal of an LGBTQ character in our movies and elsewhere is biased, ludicrous and inappropriate. So we have to tell our stories ourselves,” said Ritwik Chakraborty, a participant in ‘LGBTQ: My First Writing Experience’ during the International Literature Festival.

For other participants like Vijayarajamallika, the LGBTQ writers are spreading awareness about the rights of the community, both within and outside. “We need to bring forth the lives and struggle of our community and be very confident and comfortable with our identity while doing so,” she said.

Talking about their lives and stories, every LGBTQ individual seems to have travelled the same path of pain, suffering, rejection and abuse. “I have been abused verbally and physically since childhood. I even tried to commit suicide, but failed. Finally, I realised I need to educate myself and then write about my experiences to bring about some meaningful change in society towards my community,” said Meera Parida.

Dhananjay Chauhan from Chandigarh also endured several brutal experiences, including being kidnapped and sexually exploited by 20 men. Despite realising that education was the escape route from the unhappy life, he had to drop out twice as his fellow students also made his life miserable.

“But finally, I decided to study for myself and others. Life is good now, but the struggle is on,” said Chauhan. Nevertheless, challenges are many for the LGBTQ writers. “To begin with, the language we write is gender biased, it’s not gender neutral,” said Disha, one of the LGBTQ writers.

Despite several challenges, the participants overall were happy with the platform given to them in the festival. “It’s indeed a great platform for us to raise our issues and share the struggles of our lives. I am sure these sessions must have been eye-openers for society,” said Vijayarajamallika.

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