Pride Month 2023: I have been an ally and an LGBTQIA activist for longer than two decades, says Celina Jaitly | EXCLUSIVE

After being the fourth runner-up at the global event of ‘Miss Universe 2001’, Celina Jaitly went onto make her Bollywood debut with the thriller ‘Janasheen’. Post her debut, the stunning beauty went onto do films like ‘Khel – No Ordinary Game’, ‘No Entry’, ‘Money Hai Toh Honey Hai’, ‘Golmaal Returns’ and many others. After she got married to Peter Haag, the Austrian entrepreneur and hotelier, Celina left Bollywood and settled abroad. The lady, presently, shuttles between India and other foreign countries for her work commitments. Amidst all this, Celina Jaitly has always been extremely vocal about her seamless support towards the LGBTQI community.

On the occasion of the ongoing ‘Pride Month 2023’, OTTplay caught up with Celina Jaitly for an exclusive and freewheeling interview, wherein the ‘Janasheen’ actor spoke about her relentless support towards the LGBTQI community and what the world needs to do for them. Over to you, Celina!

Hi Celina! Tell us as to what does ‘Pride Month’ mean to you?
I have been an ally and an LGBTQIA activist for more than two decades. ‘Pride Month’, to me, means a lot on many different levels. When you are fighting for something almost all your life, the agonies and ecstasies of that journey become engraved in your DNA. ‘Pride Month’ means stepping into my light and taking complete joy in celebrating love and the many difficult journeys undertaken by many like me to see it bare fruition! It's about celebrating LGBTQIA+ history, fighting discrimination and honouring differences.

Do you think it is justified to have one full month in a year as ‘Pride Month’ or do we need to have a ‘Pride Day’ once every month/ week?
To speak accurately in conjunction with the real facts behind pride month – ‘LGBT Pride Month’ is a month, typically June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) struggle for civil rights. ‘Pride Month’ began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and has since spread outside of the United States.

Carry on Celina, we are all ears…
Having said that, people who identify as LGBTQ+ have been subject to persecution, violence, and even death for daring to be their true selves. In some countries, there's even a death penalty for being gay! ‘Gay Pride’ celebrates the accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community and allows people who identify as LGBTQ+ to live freely without fear of violence and judgment. Given the facts, I believe it’s important to have a month dedicated exclusively to involve all levels of society including corporates to generate awareness about the years of struggle for civil rights and the ongoing pursuit of equal justice under the law for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, as well as the accomplishments of LGBTQ individuals.

In what way do you feel have the Indians opened up and accepted the LGBTQI or are we still miles behind other countries when it comes to accepting the community?
There is still a big lack of understanding about the LGBTQIA in India. The disparity between urban and rural India, language, caste, class and gender adds further complexities to understanding this topic more fully. While the attitudes are shifting in our country and government is gradually stepping forward and implementing necessary reforms. Section 377 criminalising same sex relationships was revoked on 6 Sept 2018 and India’s Supreme Court recognised a long-discriminated-against transgender group as a third gender in April 2014. While flawed, the Transgender Rights Bill remains the product of one of the longest and most powerful transgender rights movements. In India, homosexuality is legally permitted, but same-sex unions have not been recognised yet. Gay couples in the country currently face hurdles when it comes to adoption, inheritance and alimony, among other issues.

What about the disparities of treatment between heterosexual and homosexual couples?
The disparities of treatment between heterosexual and homosexual couples is also noticeable at many levels even organisations and corporates run by the so-called maximum of the educated elite are unable to include within their policies a safe, indiscriminate working environment and opportunities for the LGBTQI.

In that case, what do you think are the steps necessary to open up the mentality of those with closed minds?
I have often said that ‘change’ begins with ‘difficult’ conversations that “must” be had. So, while we have won our fight for repealing Section 377 in our country, and passed a transgender protection bill despite its loopholes and lack of provisions. We certainly can begin working at the grass root levels in laying our foundation towards equality for all. It is also evident that businesses and corporations need to make a stand. Taking steps towards an inclusive workplace and measuring the results will send the message that a business wants progress, that it wishes to have the LGBT community onboard and that it is serious about diversity. Taking steps such as these will enable participating states, corporates and organisations to enrich people’s lives.

In that case, won’t the price of exclusion be heavy?
The price of exclusion is heavy and affects everyone hence Companies & organisations not having inclusive policies leads to exclusion, a waste of human potential, a loss of creative talent, and a loss of productive capacity. I sincerely hope to see a coalition of committed organisations big & small, corporates and hopefully one day our government too, to reach out to those with different perspectives and respectfully engage them in promoting greater LGBT inclusion promises and legal obligations to bring real and substantial inclusive environments at work for all.

In what way, do you think, is Bollywood responsible for influencing the minds of the people when it comes to the concept of LGBTQI? Is Bollywood doing enough towards the LGBTQI community?
Indian Cinema has played an important role in conditioning the mindsets of Indians of all backgrounds and while it has made great leaps in the types of cinemas being attempted most Hindi films still thrive on the offensive and stereotypical portrayal of the non-binary gender characters. I have always wondered as an actor, why the trans/gay person is constantly seen as outside the bounds of ‘normal’. Ironically, despite the rampant transphobia, one particular trope is extremely popular in Bollywood, even after so many years, and that is cross-dressing men.

What about trans people and cis men?
Trans people are considered abnormal but cis men in drag are applauded. Every time a “hero” dresses in drag it is considered to be an iconic piece of performance, it’s always been difficult to wrap my head around that one. Casting trans people in trans roles is still a challenge as cis Gender actors consider it as a loss of opportunity to win awards, and producers/directors would rather cast cis actors who pull in an audience rather than a trans actor who pulls in the character.

You made your Bollywood comeback with the film ‘Seasons Greetings, A Tribute To Rituporno Ghosh’. Tell us something about that...
Yes! When I did my comeback last year with multi award winning film ‘Seasons Greetings’, A Tribute To Rituporno Ghosh’ by Ramkamal Mukherjee, one of main reasons for having said yes to the project was that the director Ramkamal casted for the first time a trans woman in a trans lead role in the film. For someone like me who fought their whole life for LGBTQIA rights, it was an historic moment in my life as an actor and as an activist to be the leading lady of such an inclusive project.

Having said that, while the question of trans and gay representation in Bollywood is indeed a concerning one, the situation is not entirely bleak. Many film-makers like Ramkamal Mukherjee with ‘Seasons Greetings’, the late Shree Rituporno Ghosh with Chitrangada and specifically south Indian films like ‘Super Deluxe’ a 2019 Tamil film and Malayalam film ‘Njan Mary Kutti’ (2018) and the wonderful Tamil film by Lokesh Kumar titled, ‘My Son Is Gay’ have outdone themselves in trans and Gay representation. Having said that, it is important to cast trans and gay people in LGBTQI roles. Only they can portray and become the beacons of reflections of the agonies and ecstasies of their journeys no matter what the script demands.

Do you think that directors are not ready to make films based on the LGBTQI community because there are no producers to fund such films?
In recent years, the Indian film industry has released some critical films that show real-world issues of the Indian LGBTQ and intersex community. Having said that while directors and scriptwriters are being more real, and the audience is here and ready for it there is still a big gap in acceptance of LGBTQI films as it boils down to economics at the end of the day. Films are obviously required to make money to justify its presence. In India, the ecosystem of film distribution, marketing, the exhibition is not even designed for offbeat films. Therefore, the struggle for themes and stories exploring a world of LGBT lives is far tougher to top than that filmmakers need to deal with conservative attitudes towards diverse sexualities that have suppressed representation. Added is the problem of Censorship as well. A country where Homosexuality was illegal until 2018, India's censor body frequently intrudes on the creative freedom of filmmakers by simply refusing to certify films with progressive themes.

Looking back, there was a time when Bollywood had films like ‘Fire’, which created a huge uproar. But, today, we have, ‘Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhaan’ and likes. Is Bollywood changing or is it yet to change?
The queer projection of characters in Indian films has seen a drastic shift from ‘Fire’ in 1996 to ‘Subh Mangal Zyada Savdhan’ in 2020 and my film ‘Seasons Greetings- A Tribute To Rituporno Ghosh’ in 2021. I am glad many new filmmakers are making progressive endeavours and making mainstream LGBTQIA films. This only goes to show that audiences have become more open in acknowledgement of the reality of sexual orientation.

The filmmakers hold supreme responsibility in being sensitive, empathetic and rational while attempting to make films on the said theme. It is important to create the right opportunities rather than have mere token representation in films. And as complex as it may seem, the underlying principles of treating people respectfully and equally is a no-brainer and requires no special education.

Are you happy / satisfied the way in which the LGBTQI community have been represented in Bollywood with films like ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’, ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’, ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan’, ‘Badhaai Do’ etc…?

While there are some parts in these films which may not be very agreeable, even veering into preachiness sometimes and do not come close to justifying what lakhs of Indian LGBTQI people are suffering every day. I, however, applaud the brave initiatives taken to make these films. We need to understand that commercial films might have certain constraints, given that they’re aimed at a mass audience. Having said that, these movies may not be perfect, but have certainly set a milestone in queer cinema with its advances in intimacy portrayal and dialogues and normalizing certain kinds of sexual subjectivities.