Local
Activists protest sodomy ruling at Indian embassy
Say ruling will lead to arrests, oppression of gays
Demonstrators descended on the Indian embassy Wednesday to protest a court ruling that reinstates a sodomy ban in the country. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
LGBT Indian nationals and about 20 supporters gathered outside the Indian embassy in Washington on Wednesday to protest a decision by India’s Supreme Court to reinstate a British colonial era law that criminalizes sodomy between consenting adults.
The ruling Wednesday overturned a 2009 decision by a lower court that declared the sodomy law violated India’s constitution. The ruling this week by the Supreme Court said it would be up to India’s Parliament to decide whether to repeal or retain the sodomy statute.
“The Indian Supreme Court just plunged its LGBT citizens – 15 million by conservative estimates – into being criminals yet again,” said Tushar Malik, an Indian citizen and gay activist working temporarily in Washington as a Global Engagement Fellow with the Human Rights Campaign.
“Four years of freedom I enjoyed back home, and today in a foreign country I am sad to see that me and my friends and my brothers and sisters – everyone in India who might not identity as straight – can get imprisoned, can go to jail for 10 years up to a life sentence,” he told participants in the protest.
The protesters gathered around a statue in front of the embassy on Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian freedom fighter and leader of the country’s non-violent movement to gain independence from Great Britain.
While facing the embassy, some of the protesters held signs saying, “I don’t want to leave my country to be free and equal,” and “Criminals in Our Own Country.”
Malik, who organized the protest, called on President Obama and the U.S. State Department to put pressure on India to repeal the sodomy law or take steps to petition the high court to reverse its decision.
Sapna Pandya, president of Khush D.C., a group representing LGBT people from South Asia, said Khush is inviting the LGBT community to attend a candlelight vigil outside the Indian embassy on Friday night to continue to the protest of the Supreme Court ruling.
She said the vigil was expected to begin at 6 p.m. at the site of the Gandhi statue, which is located in a small triangular park where Massachusetts Avenue, 21st Street, and Q Street intersect.
“The idea is to use the symbol of the candlelight to suggest that the Indian Supreme Court needs to be illuminated and needs to be re-enlightened,” she said. “We were all so joyous when the Delhi High Court read down [Article] 377 [the sodomy statute] in 2009. To see us go backwards into the darkness and going backwards in history is so upsetting,” she said.
She said another objective of the vigil is to suggest to the Indian government that the state of democracy in the country “is not well” in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that takes away freedoms from LGBT people.
Malik, who is from New Delhi, said that although the sodomy law for the most part was not enforced against consenting adults engaging in sexual acts in private, the law was used to discriminate against gay people by labeling them as law-breakers. He said the law was also used by police to harass LGBT people and by blackmailers to extort money from gay people.
“I am gay and I’m a criminal in the eyes of the law,” Malik told the gathering on Wednesday. “I’m not going to give up and I’m going to fight.”
A group of protesters gathered at the base of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
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The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
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