Drag artists across India issued an open letter in support of marriage equality, in the wake of the recent ongoing Supreme Court hearings on the same.
Amidst the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court over marriage rights of the LGBTQIA++ community, which may have ramifications across different intersectionalities and larger civil society, while the State is arguing to restrict it to the binary, the cultural fight is gaining momentum.
On Tuesday, The Pink List India, an organisation which claims to be India's first archive of politicians supporting LGBTQ rights, released an open letter by a collective of drag artists nationwide, supporting the fight for marriage equality.
The letter, signed by over 80 drag artists along with people and organisations working for their rights and upliftment, stated that while the current hearings filled them with cautious optimism and hope, the Centre's "misinformation" and opposition to it in the apex court was worrying.
The letter went on to delve into how a favourable verdict would open up many new possibilities for society at large, and help open many new roads for marginalised communities that have long been highlighting the fundamental injustice that existed in the current judicial framework.
It went on to state how the ever-evolving and expanding spectrum of gender required a matched response from the State and related the current happenings to the long historicity of the movement, delving into how they have found expression and long had a rightful place, and highlighted the impact of the groups in our arts, cultural and mythological space. It further went on highlight how this fluid and constantly evolving space required the state to match it in terms of more prescient legislation, as other institutions also continued to evolve and redefine themselves, from the very notion of marriage to the country's own cultural fabric.
The letter re-affirmed that at the end of the day, they rested their faith in the Constitution of India, and the rule of law which would eventually accord them the rights they needed. It ended with the powerful submission, stating "If history is something to learn from, may we learn from the bravest and kindest retelling of it, to shape our trajectory ahead. That is our hope and submission".