This is my final quarterly report! The next time I interact with Watson HQ it will be at Rhodes for the conference. I can't believe this. I can't believe it has been nine months already. Time is passing so quickly now and in just a few short months I head to Canada for my final stop before returning home.
Below is my third quarterly report, sent off to the Watson Foundation as a summary of my months in India and my transition to South Africa.
To the Watson Foundation,
Hello from Cape Town!
I arrived here a few weeks ago, but when I last wrote from Delhi, the Indian Supreme Court had just issued its ruling on Section 377. The ruling reaffirmed the validity of 377, the piece of Indian code originally introduced by the British that criminalizes any "unnatural" sexual acts. In theory this would apply universally to heterosexual and same-sex couples engaging in anything other than procreative sex but in reality it is clear that the intention of the law is to effectively criminalize same-sex relationships.
Being in India during and after the ruling was such an educational experience. Every week there were protests and meetings about how to proceed or how to challenge the ruling, and I was able to attend a variety of discussions throughout the city, including a national meeting held in Delhi and attended by activists and community members from across the country. While the intention of the ruling seemed to be to shame same-sex and non-traditional couples, it brought many queer people and their allies out of the closets and into the streets.
The privilege of witnessing queer India rise up and fight against the 377 decision is difficult to articulate. Friends dressed in black with rainbow bandanas, belts, and arm bands distributed leaflets and told their stories. Groups marched and gathered throughout Delhi and around the country. At Mumbai Pride, the first celebration since the ruling, there was a huge turnout, and I was so shocked and excited to see the mass of people stretching further and further back as we walked the streets. Being able to watch the community mobilize and to listen to the conversation and attend the meetings and marches that accompanied this mobilization taught me so much about the strength, energy, bravery, and determination behind a social movement and protest like the one happening in India now. I was able to listen to some of the major debates, about everything from how to support and include people of every socioeconomic status to which language should be spoken at meetings that included multiple regions to whether or not there was an imperative to speak against a major political party, which had many supporters in the queer community prior to 377, because the party supported the ruling and spoke against queer rights.
In between meetings and marches related to 377, I spent time at TARSHI (Talking about Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues). I loved working in that office. The work that they are doing is so important and the opportunity to learn from them was fantastic in itself. On top of that, the people who work at TARSHI are incredibly intelligent, progressive, and kind and talking over lunch with such an amazing group of people was a highlight of my day. My last day at TARSHI was really sad for me. All of the people, the things they taught me, and the conversations we had remain with me; the office also gave me a gorgeous gold ship bookmark that is carrying me forward on my journey.
In addition to work with TARSHI and 377-related activity, I attended meetings of an LGBT social group and spent time with many of its members regularly. I found a strong community of people in Delhi, for which I was extremely grateful. Between the queer community I met through pride, 377 events, and the social group, everyone at TARSHI, and the unbelievably generous group of people, mostly Fulbrights, that had me for Thanksgiving dinner just a few days after I arrived in the city, I had a strong support network and was able to learn so much about queer life in Delhi and in India. Through more structured interviews and through everyday conversation, I heard a variety of stories and opinions about coming out, relationships, and thoughts on being queer in India since the Supreme Court decision.
Although I spent most of my three months in Delhi, there were some fabulous side trips as well. Three friends took me with them on a pilgrimage to Mathura and Vrindavan, sacred sites in the life of Krishna, and I went with them to various temples, dancing with a really nice family at one aarti and learning how to offer prasad at a temple famous for the magical eyes of the deity. Vinay, Abishek, and Chitrang introduced me to a ton of delicious street food (I miss Indian food so much) and sent me home with a statue of Krishna in his childhood. We also went together to the Taj Mahal. I visited Varanasi and met some new people via a Queer Couchsurfers group. We ended up back in Delhi together at a 377 protest. I also made a trip to Rishikesh and Haridwar and, in a very small world moment, met a friend of a friend from Delhi on the street and spent the afternoon with him and his wife and friends.
My last three weeks were spent in Mumbai where I attended Pride and some of the events leading up to the parade as well as a performance of the Vagina Monologues, which was a really interesting experience. I have been a part of the show at home for the last few years and seeing the show in an Indian context made clear how much of it is, as one friend put it afterward, "really American." Mumbai Pride was much bigger than I had anticipated and there were several after parties and a week's worth of events leading up to the march, including a great short film screening and a sort of open-mic night that showcased all kinds of Indian performers. Mumbai also brought a visitor from home; Mimi, one of my best friends and college roommates, came to visit. It was so good to see her.
So much of India was beyond description. I already miss the friends I made there and I learned something new every day. At the same time, India was without a doubt the most challenging place I have been so far. There were cultural differences that I anticipated but there were many conflicts and interactions that I did not. These ranged from the practical, like finding safe and clean housing, to the extremely personal. I became hyper-aware of my gender presentation. Because so many things in India are gender-segregated and because I am somewhat masculine in appearance, I regularly dealt with questions bordering on harassment as I tried to enter the metro or train through the women's security or even just walking down the street. I identify as butch and am comfortable falling somewhere in between normal standards of feminine and masculine appearance, but it has never been the case that this presentation has made me stand out in the way that it did in India. I have never considered myself gender non-comforming, but now I do. These interactions regarding my gender have made me think about gender and physical presentation in a whole new way, and I am still working through my thoughts. One way of doing this has been writing; I had a piece published by a queer blog in India and have found writing to be an important outlet for working through various personal and political issues (not that they can be separated).
Living in India also made me aware of poverty and urban development in ways that I had never been before this year. I will never again take things like potable water and reliable electricity for granted. There is a serious concern in Delhi about women's safety and when I was not with friends, it was not uncommon to experience harassment. I was told by my landlords, roommates, and friends to avoid walking at night, even the very short distance between the metro and my apartment. There was one particularly scary experience, where a car stopped beside me at the metro and, when I declined a ride, followed me in an auto for a bit, that made me totally sure that following the advice of my friends about walking alone at night was a great idea. I was sick so regularly that it became a normal part of life. (In fact, I brought a bacterial infection with me to Cape Town but a doctor's visit and lots of antibiotics fixed it for good.) I also had a number of housing issues that led to me hopping around the city quite a bit. Still all of these things were important learning experiences and I am grateful for the new perspective and for the ways that I was challenged and pushed to find new solutions or confront totally foreign situations.
A few weeks ago I said goodbye to India and arrived in Cape Town, where I found a happy and unexpected home in a local hostel and an internship at Gender DynamiX, a non-profit working on queer issues, with an emphasis on transgender and intersex issues, something that has come to be much more personal to me since India. The city is without a doubt the most beautiful place I have ever been and just walking outside seems too good to be true.
Cape Town Pride was smaller than I anticipated and gave me a chance to speak to many groups and also to ask about some of the tensions here in the community, including many built around race and gender (the parade is often seen as very white and very male). Additionally, with the recent legislation criminalizing same-sex relationships and queer identity in Uganda and Nigeria, there are a number of important conversations happening here about how to react and support queer Africans. I am privileged to be able to listen to these conversations and am still working through how to be supportive without overstepping my bounds as a visitor.
Overall, the past three months have been some of the most challenging but also some of the most formative and impactful of my Watson year so far. I am a different person than the one who left Memphis nine months ago and I feel that regularly. I continue to be amazed every day by the people and organizations working under the banner of queer rights and am hoping to stay, as one of my favorite English teachers recommended, a sponge ready to absorb and try to process as much as possible in the beautiful and complicated world around me.
All the best from South Africa,
Sarah Holland Bacot
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