“I Was Denied Work Due To Homophobia In Society”

Traditionally, Indian society has been conservative when it comes to LGBTQIA+ issues. This cultural backdrop has made it difficult for queer individuals to be open about their identities in their personal and professional lives. Additionally, the legal framework has been challenging, particularly with Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalised homosexual acts.

Ashish Sawhny, a filmmaker, mental health counselor, podcast host, actor and writer, has been at the receiving end of this discrimination for a very long time.

Shaping a career in advertising was a nightmare

Candidly speaking with BW Businessworld, highlighting the dark side of the advertising industry, which is supposed to have cool people with creative bent, he recalled the time when he was denied acceptance into the industry due to his queer personality.

Since there were no role models for people like Sawhny back in 1992, he explained how the queer community was criminalised according to British-era laws. Being the grandson of famous feminist Urdu writer and poetess Ismat Chughtai, who addressed the issue of queerness back in 1942 in one of her short stories named ‘Lihaaf’, reaped him no laurels. He narrated how his maternal grandmother was brutally treated by society due to her progressive views. The British rulers also filed a case of obscenity against her in Lahore in 1945, which eventually they lost.

“Today, lack of role models further made my belief stronger that I could never be a director, which was my dream back then,” said Sawhny. But his grandmother always instigated him to lead his life with honesty, failing which he would always regret this one life which he has been given to him.

After graduating in Film and Drama from Reading University, UK, Sawhney came back to make a mark in India, but to his dismay, nobody wanted to work with a ‘HOMO’. He said, “Even after directing some very famous advertisements with well-known brands, I struggled to get work because of my sexuality. While working with big brands, I would often get to hear homophobic jokes being thrown on my face and I didn’t know how to handle or respond to them as I happened to be their product’s producer and director. My sexuality was a joke to them as I was made to hear jokes like, ‘such products are for macho men and not for ‘Pancies’!”

Breeze of change with hurdles

According to a recent Glassdoor report on support for LGBTQ+ community at workplaces, discrimination comes with a certain cost to the economy, since a huge hunk of talent gets eliminated due to their sexual preferences.

To this Sawhny further states, “We make up 6-10 per cent of the general population, which means we are at least 135 million in this country.”

By 1993-1994, the pride community had begun to witness an ‘underground queer movement,’ where queer parties and secret meetups would happen in undisclosed locations. “World was moving and changing also in India,” reminisced Sawhny.

The real problem arose in 1997 when Sawhny had set up his own little production house, but was struggling to find work. “While I had established myself as a worthy director in Sri Lanka, my work was confined to cosmetics or fashion and that to also only offered by women in the industry,” he stated.

But since in 2000s internet had come to India, liberalisation was happening, satellite channels were being set up and Indians were being exposed to Channel V and MTV culture. Sawhney had begun to get non-fictional work in form of short movies and documentaries.

“My hard-work finally paid off and I got my dream project with Netflix, where I directed ‘The Big Day,’ and also managed to showcase a gay-wedding,” said Sawhny.

But the stereotyping prevailed, to the effect, “This guy being a gay can only direct certain kind of films, involving the LGBT+ angle.”

“The stereotyping for all male directors was that they were straight, macho, smoking cigar and roaming with models. On the contrary, I just could never fit into that stereotyping,” he shared.

Talent hiring transition

The transition in talent hiring practices for the queer community in India has been marked by gradual progress, significant legal milestones, and proactive corporate initiatives. While challenges remain, the increasing visibility of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workforce signals a positive shift towards more inclusive hiring practices.

In words of Sawhny, “Today a person’s sexuality isn’t much of an issue than it was at the beginning of my career. Hiring LGBT+ professionals isn’t an issue as talent is surpassing all hindrances.”

But now, there is a stereotype in the kind of work people from queer community are offered. Sawhny raised a concern while explaining how ‘gay men’ are being termed as ‘effeminate’. “A lot of gay men you would see in fashion industry get to do only hair & makeup, or other expressive arts.”

These stereotypical notions pervade the OTT culture too. “Even though though my work has been largely applauded and accepted, I am still being approached for certain genres of short stories/documentary directions. While that can be termed as my expertise into the segment or the choice of my sexuality but we cannot say that the exclusions towards us has been fully vanished from the societal mindset,” explains the filmmaker.

Further, he quoted some common biases prevailing even today, which hinders their acceptance in the society:

External biases, pertaining to attire or outer appearance: Today, younger kids do not want to be categorised in ‘Gender Binary’, as they don’t agree with just being males or females. Hence, they mix up a lot of their dressing, like a few boys wearing nail paints or adorning jewellery. These further closes doors for them in corporates as their appearance and attire doesn’t go in sync with the corporate clothing.

Lack of documentation: A lot of people from the trans community also struggle with corporate documentation. The issue arises when the converted individuals don’t have relevant documents. They might be boy or girl from birth but they don’t have the transitioning gender’s proof, which further creates issues during hiring as HRs are clueless on how to document them as employees in such cases.

Lack of awareness among general public: Since corporates don’t sensitise well their existing employees on how to deal with people from queer community, including how to address them, the HRs always feel skeptical while hiring them.

The Road Ahead

Though the world isn't just black and white for queer community now, the struggle has reaped in few fruits. But, Sawhny still claims that there is way to go for the community to be thriving in India specially. The denial of work to individuals based on their sexual preferences is a pervasive issue that requires urgent attention. While progress has been made, much work remains to be done to ensure that queer individuals can work free from discrimination and prejudice. “By fostering inclusive workplaces and robust legal protections, we can move towards a future where everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the opportunity to thrive professionally,” claims Sawhny.