Woke up to a whole bunch of friends sharing their profile-pic in Facebook, with the rainbow filter. Sleep deprived through the last couple of weeks, I wondered, whether I missed my chance of spotting a rainbow in this wonderful weather, here in Mumbai. A couple of seconds later, I glanced upon trending news that a U.S. Supreme Court Judgement legalizing gay marriage in the United States of America had been passed!
Impressive, I thought! That’s a big win for a community that had been tested for far too long. #CelebratePride was trending on all the Social Media platforms! A photograph of the White House smartly lit up in the colors signifying the rainbow affirmed the spirit of equality & did its rounds online and made appearances offline as well! U2’s Bono, in his recent performance at Chicago, donned the Rainbow flag and performed Pride (In the Name of Love) & Gloria to celebrate this occasion.
Of course, like everyone else I tempted to jump into the support bandwagon. But the moment soon passed as I looked at the increasing number of profile pics with the Rainbow Filter. After all, how would it matter if my profile picture succumbed to this filter too? My loved ones know where I stand, and everything else seemed irrelevant. Besides a similar legislation was passed in Ireland last month, and now in US, so what value would I be able to add by just adding a filter to my photograph!
I caught up with a couple of friends in US who had been waiting for this judgement for ages and they were ecstatic. After all, this legislation meant vindication of love. What was ironic though, is that, here in India, despite our progressive approach to several facets of life, love and marriage still come bundled with conservative norms. In a land that is just getting over the horrors of the Honor Killing and other outdated practices, the LGBT community had been valiantly trying to bring about a change in perception and social acceptance over the years. Finally, decades after their trials and tribulations, we had a landmark judgement of our own in 2014! But, where was all this loving and support back then?
As the day progressed though, I couldn’t help but get annoyed seeing ignorance sneak up on my friends! Clearly, many were celebrating pride without understanding the significance of this filter! One of my friends had me in splits, saying, she changed the image only because she loved the colors and the moment I enlightened her, there was a moment of awkward silence, followed by her quick response, going back to her previous photograph! Paranoid much..?
Nevertheless, these are exciting times! It’s indeed a big step for people in love, for people who support the cause or have loved ones in the country that legalized this unity. But do bear in mind, that not all who changed their pics truly support the cause. And, some of us, though have refrained from public display of support, continue to love and support genuine causes like these all over the world, ceaselessly. After all #LoveIsLove & its time to #CelebratePride!
