Fighting To Legalise Gay Marriage In India, This Couple Is An Inspiration For Others

 

The News Cover: it was uh pride 2012 in Washington dc uh every year in June we celebrate the pride festival and for the first time in my life, I had been invited to march in the gay pride parade and so I decided to just have a really good time that day and just dance and sing and have a lot of fun and so whenever.

 I saw anybody who looked even remotely they see in the audience I would run up to them I would start dancing and I guess one of the people I danced with was you I felt like I've known you forever I felt like uh I don't know it was like people you know say that it's not true I believe that you know I knew that night that you were my soul mate growing up in India I never knew that I was even gay like I figured this word out you know much later when I was in school maybe I think some friend mentioned it I looked it up and I knew it enough that I shouldn't talk about it and I remember you mentioned this to me once that wherever you don't owe it to anybody but you owe it to your parents.

so I wouldn't lie it was incredibly hard you know my parents had come to see me in Switzerland they were leaving for Delhi uh we had finished a week trip had lots of fun and I just sat with my parents and you know I told them and started to cry it became a very emotional conversation they were very supportive at that time and they said you know as parents our responsibility is to take care of you.

a year ago went to the Indian consulate in new york to register our marriage and they refused to do so so we filed a petition with the Delhi high court I am a citizen of India and it was personal for me is because when there are straight people and you know my brother or my uncles or aunts anybody who gets married uh outside uh you know in America and they are to come to India their marriage is recognized

why not mine and do you think we'll win absolutely I have such deep faith in my judicial system in my country's judicial system you know what else will make a big difference if more successful people who are LGBTQ will come out and say so and say so proudly without any reservation bindas you know without shame my favorite word and own it because that doesn't just send a signal to the kids who need role models it sends a signal to the parents who need to know that their kids will be okay