‘Men’t for each other

Shame shame to same same — is what the latest Supreme Court ruling signifies. And now this regressive ruling will compel many gay couples to stay behind locked doors. There are many including designers Wendell Rodricks, Swapnil Shinde and others who are happy and gay, but what do the city’s same sex couples feel about it?

We speak to couples in the city who are living together with gusto and are very upset with the new ruling. Sanjay Kampurath, a business analyst with an IT firm in the city, has been living with his partner Sudhir N for a year now. Sanjay reveals, “I met Sudhir through a dating website and decided to go out for a coffee with him. At the very first coffee date we had, we just knew we were meant for each other. It was love at first sight. We have been together since then and love each other’s company, but the society remains judgemental. With God’s grace, we are both well-settled in life, so we can go to parties without any discrimination. But, we still can’t go out and be open about it, as there’s still a lack of awareness. And now the new verdict has made our life miserable. We want more people to come out of their closets and bring a change, especially those in smaller cities, who don’t get to fight for their rights. Why should you marry women when you don’t want them?”

Agrees Sudhir N, who has been living with his partner for a year, “I’m the older one in our relationship and have seen the best of times with him. I had never imagined I would experience so much happiness. Honestly nothing has changed in the last one year that we have been together. We have only grown to like each other more and hope this will always remain. We do have our small arguments, but we never fight. Also importantly, we have given each other a lot of space. We don’t like the same kind of movies or the same kind of music, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like each other. Our love doesn’t change anything.”

For someone who has been giving counseling to a lot of married couples in the city, Mahesh Natarajan has his hands full when it comes advising on relationships. “I’ve been staying with my gay partner for the past ten years and we are both very happy. But my concern is for those who don’t have a privileged life like mine. When I meet young people, I see a lot of anxiety and I tell them that they still have the right to dignity and the right to privacy by law, so they would live with pride, even in the times of such repressive ruling.”