💪 Mind the Gap: The big fat pride quiz
Plus, more on the US Supreme Court transgender ruling and UK's 'grooming gangs'.
Hello Readers: It’s Pride Month and I have a big fat pride quiz for you. Can you ace it? Read on:
- Which city was the first to host a Pride Parade in India?
a. Delhi
b. Mumbai
c. Bangaluru
d. Kolkata
2. This law made same-sex relations illegal in India until it was repealed by the Supreme Court. It is:
a. Section 377 of the Indian penal code
b. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act
c. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act
d. The Special Marriages Act
3. The lead petitioner in the Supreme court ruling that decriminalized section 377 in 2009 was:
a. Vikram Seth
b. Navtej Singh Johar
c. Anjali Gopalan
d. Saurabh Kirpal
4. The landmark 2014 Supreme Court judgment that officially recognized transgender people as a “third gender” and granted them the right to self-identify as male or female or other is colloquially known as:
a. Pocso
b. Keshavananda Bharti
c. Shakti Vahini
d. Nalsa
5. Watch this viral 2017 Vicks ad, based on the real-life story of a transgender activist, here. Can you name the activist?
6. Which of these movies does not feature a same-sex relationships?
a. Dostana
b. Mrs
c. Fire
d. Aligarh
7. In 2023, a five-judge Supreme Court bench declined to grant marriage equality rights to the LGBTQ community in a 3:2 verdict. The reason it gave:
a. Indian society was not ready for it
b. Legislation was the job of Parliament
c. Marriage could only be seen as a union between a biological man and a biological woman
d. To introduce such a concept would shake the foundations of the Indian family
8. This is the bright, articulate and first openly gay person to be appointed a national spokesperson by a major political party. Name him. (Bonus if you can name the party as well).
9. The first country to legalise same-sex marriage is:a. Norway
b. New Zealand
c. Canada
d. The Netherlands
10. This picture was shot in June 1961 and became the starting point of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, including Pride Parades. Can you name this event?
11. In this country (or countries) homosexual activity is punishable by death:
a. Iran
b. Russia
c. Indonesia
d. Uganda
12. The Supreme Court of this country ruled that for legal purposes, only those born biologically as women will be considered women. The country is:
a. USA
b. UK
c. Spain
d. Namibia
13. The first openly gay elected official in the United States was assassinated in 1998. Can you name this man? [Bonus: why was he in the news recently?]
14. Donald Trump said or did this. True or false?
a. “It is the official policy of the US government that there are only two genders, male and female”
b. Banned transgender people from serving in the military
c. “Women have suffered greatly because of the participation of male-born players in women’s sports. The whole situation is not only unjust but also insulting to women”
d. Vowed to protect women whether “they like it or not”
15. What does the rainbow flag represent?
a. Diversity within the LGBTQ community
b. A catchy and pleasing visual image
c. Includes the colours of all the flags in the world
d. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, signifying a better world at the end of the struggle for LGBTQ rights
Answers
- d. Kolkata. In June 1999, when same-sex relations were still illegal, Kolkata hosted the first Pride Parade, calling it a “friendship walk”, with just 15 participants. BBC has more on that event here.
2. a. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code made sex “against the order of nature” a criminal offence. Introduced during British colonial rule, it was repealed in the UK in 1967. Yet, many former colonies retained and some, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, still have it on their statute books.
3. Dancer Navtej Singh Johar was the lead petitioner in the Supreme Court judgement of 2018 that finally decriminalized same-sex relations by reading down Section 377. Earlier, in 2009, the Delhi high court had already decriminalized same-sex relations on a petition filed by Anjali Gopalan of the Naz Foundation but in 2013, the Supreme Court over-turned that decision leading Navtej and others to file a review petition which finally settled the issue, nearly a decade after the Delhi high court decision.
4. d. Nalsa or the National Legal Services Authority of India, set up in 1997 to provide free legal aid, was the primary petitioner to represent the grievances of the transgender community that was seeking a legal declaration of a gender identity other than the one assigned at birth. There were other petitioners too but, as the first listed petitioner, the landmark 2012 judgement came to be known as the Nalsa judgment.
5. a. Her name is Gauri Sawant, also known as Shree Gauri Sawant, who adopted a young girl after her mother died of HIV/AIDS. She was one of the petitioners in the Nalsa case.
6. b. Mrs, adapted from the critically acclaimed Malayalam film, The Great Indian Kitchen, deals with the burden of household chores and the unreasonable demands by the husband and in-laws of a newly married woman.
7. b. The Supreme Court passed the contentious issue back to Parliament saying it was not the job of the judiciary to pass laws. Two of the five judges did consider some compromises, such as the right to adopt or the right to be recognized in a civil partnership, but in the end gave the LGBTQ community no concessions.
8. Anish Gawande is a Rhodes scholar, an art curator and a political activist who co-founded Pink List, a website that listed 2019 Lok Sabha candidates on their record of supporting (or not) queer causes. In 2024, he was appointed national spokesperson for Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party.
9. d. In December 2000, the Netherlands added a few words to its existing marriage laws—"A marriage can be contracted by two people of different or the same sex”—and became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage.
10. The Stonewall Uprising began after New York city police raided a popular gay bar called the Stonewall Inn, an unlicensed private club said to be owned by the mafia, on June 28, 1969. Back then, homosexuality was a criminal offense and gay bars were routinely raided; Stonewall Inn had in fact already been raided earlier that week. But the raid turned violent with bar patrons and residents pelting the police with coins, stones and bottles, forcing them to barricade themselves inside Stonewall. The confrontation continued for six days and received inordinate media coverage boosting LGBTQ activism.
11. a and d: As of 2024, homosexuality was a criminal offense in 64 countries. It is punishable by death in 12, including Iran and Uganda.
12. b. UK.
13. That’s Harvey Milk who had served in the Navy for four years before resigning because of his sexual orientation. Milk then became the first man in California to be elected to public office. He was in the news recently after US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth said he had ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk.
14. All are true.
15.Based on the original designed by artist Gilbert Baker and first flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade in 1978, the rainbow flag represents diversity, unity and the fight for equal rights. The flag colours and designs have evolved over time to reflect intersectionality within the community.
