Voices From the Community: Queer and Disabled

"I was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease, a disorder characterised by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause. As a two-month-old baby I suffered the first fracture when I merely crossed my legs. Four months later, I sustained another one. Between two and eight, I had many fractures - sometimes when I walked, at other times, when I simply turned in my bed! But these would heal in a few days. The severity of the disease struck only when I suffered a severe, extremely painful fracture to my femur (thigh bone) during a trip to Ludhiana. At eight, I was disabled for life - unable to stand or walk. By the time I turned 13, I had suffered 14 fractures on various parts below the waist (my upper body was thankfully intact). But it left me and my family completely disillusioned. I stopped schooling and was forced to complete my studies from home.

OI is a genetic disorder. I inherited it from my mom, a diabetes patient, who suffered a severe fracture at 40. One of my sisters and niece also suffer from OI, but they are mild cases. Since I was born a few years after my mother's attack, I was severely afflicted. My last fracture was at 13; it happened while I was sleeping! Apart from the excruciating pain, the worse part about OI is not knowing when you will suffer the next fracture. At times, it can strike the same body part. Thankfully, my bones stopped breaking after 13.

But I was going through another turmoil in my mind.

The turning point

After I attained puberty, I realised that I was attracted to men. Puberty, in many ways, was a blessing for me, for it not only stopped my fractures, but also aided my sexual development. Though I had not realised the implications of being gay, I confessed my feelings to my sister who supported and counselled me. Being practically bed-ridden, my social life was negligible so I never really understood the situation in its correct perspective, until years later."

Read the rest of Lekha Menon's story at MumbaiMirror.com

Weekly Masala Mix

MUMBAI PRIDE 2008 -- pictures and reviews

The Times of India

Ottawa Citizen

365 Gay

DNA

Boston's MASALA garners attention at their booth during the Independence Day festival!
New England Blade

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds the world's first condom ringtone in India to promote safer sex
Softpedia
Listen to the ringtone here!

Delhi study finds abused wives at heightened risk for HIV
The Telegraph

NGO launches project Sankalp, an HIV prevention program in Karnataka
Mangalorean.com

Director, Madhur Bhandarkar, tosses around idea of a "Bollywood Brokeback Mountian"
Times of India

India's second candidate for an HIV vaccine reaches a milestone
The Telegraph

My Big Fat Straight Wedding - Andrew Sullivan explains why gay marriage is not really "gay" marriage
The Atlantic

An HIV-positive woman who has never shown symptoms of the virus might provide insights into HIV/AIDS vaccine development!
KaiserNetwork.org

Daivd Gere, brother of Richard Gere, subject of documentary on being a gay family in India
Out In India—A Family's Journey
The Times of India

India launches first HIV health insurance
Only Insurance

Health minister stressed need to scrap Section 377
Indian Express

UK study shows that ethnic minorities with similar sexual behavior show different rates of HIV infection
AIDSmap

Manipur's work to eradicate TB is threatened by the state's rising HIV infections
Panos London

Kolkata Opens First Trans Shelter

A Kolkata NGO has recently opened a shelter for transsexual men. The home in the West Bengal city opens on the heels of the creation of a similar facility in Ahmedabad, that one directed towards elderly gay men.

People Like Us (Plus) has financed the project with the help of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Agniva Lahiri, founder of Plus, states that the home's "basic aim is to provide shelter to migrant transsexual males who come to the city to earn their livelihood." Plus will provide up to 15 days (and in some cases more) of free housing; residents will also gain access to medical care and counseling.

More and more of India's metropolises are paying attention to their trans community. The Government of Tamil Nadu recently constituted a separate welfare board for its transgendered population; the legislature is the first of its kind in India. It looks like the queer movement is spreading across the subcontinent, can you feel it?

Transsexuals to find a temporary shelter in Kolkata

Tamil Nadu constitutes welfare board for transgenders

Weekly Mix Masala

A recently wed lesbian couple committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh.
India eNews

A gay couple's experience traveling in the Maldives
Sun Island, Maldives

Queer Desi Films! (films exploring sexuality, Islam, Hinduism)
Rediff

When Kiran Met Karen - indie flick about interracial lesbian relationship
Independent Films Direct; Trailer #1; Trailer #2

Interview with Bobby Darling, Bollywood trans actor
MSN India

Gay men in India are barred from donating blood
Medindia

India launches a new scheme to curb female feticide
ABC News Report

Irish poet Cathal O Searcaigh set up charity fund to help "penniless" families in Nepal and apparently used that money to pay young Nepali men for sex
Irish Independent

Queer Health: The tie between oral sex, HPV, and oropharyngeal (throat) cancer
U.S. News & World Report

The Pregnant King

Finally! The queerness that saturates Hindu mythology is given center-stage, instead of being miserably repressed into the background. The Pregnant King, a perfect title for such a gender-bending book, is by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik and it focuses on certain stories of the Mahabharata. Easy to relate to in today’s queer world (note: a pinch of imagination needed as well!), are stories of machismo warriors being castrated, FTM able to father children with borrowed penises, and of course, a king that’s preggers!

Now, as a medical student, I am forced to go off on this tangent. How possible is male pregnancy? Surprisingly, it is theoretically achievable (warning: science babble ahead). With in vitro fertilization, the zygote may be transplanted ectopically (outside of the uterus), and can attach onto abdominal organs like the liver or colon. The zygote, not only develops into the fetus, but is also the source of part of the placenta, which nourishes the fetus; thus the placenta is able to grow in the abdomen as well. So, fetuses should be able to grow in males, right? Well, easier said than done. The right hormones need to be thrown into the mix, the male’s body needs to be able to adapt to the extra strain, and, don’t forget, guys don’t have a vagina – the baby would have to be caesarean sectioned!

OK, in summary: Check out the book. And don’t be too surprised if you see some daddy-mommas in the future.

Good-looking + extra cash = condom optional

The Indian state of West Bengal is initiating a HIV/AIDS prevention program that is directed specifically towards hijras. Hijras, having been shunned from their communities, typically settle for jobs that require little or no skill. As many have turned to prostitution, they now constitute the highest at-risk group for contracting the virus for several reasons:

• They are frequently the receptive partners in oral and anal intercourse.
• Condom use is inconsistent, and many hijras will allow unprotected sex for good-looking clients or for extra cash (if this does not scream at the need for sex education, I don't know what does!)
• Water-based lubrication is expensive and hardly used, leading to damage of the anal tract (making it easier for transmission of the virus).
• Men that use hijras are in a hurry to get the deed done with, and sex can be rough (again, damaging the anal tract)
• Hijras do not receive as much money as their female counterparts, thus they must satisfy a greater number of clients to make as much money (and clients are easy to find, since Hijras are considered more sexually-skilled than female sex workers!)

Now that this initiative's been started, I think that it's time for the rest of South Asia to follow. It's time for the government to face the needs of this marginalized minority and acknowledge the hidden intricacies that the hijras are part of in society as a whole.

State to educate eunuchs about AIDS, sexual health

Project Parivartan