Track and field athlete Dutee Chand has many first to her credit. Not only has she won two silver medals at the Asian Games, she is also the first major Indian sports personality to come out about being in a same sex relationship. While this has cost her a lot in terms of a negative family and social backlash, it has earned her praise from someone far afield – from American TV show host Ellen Degeneres.
She was hailed as the great new hope of Indian athletics and her family was, no doubt extremely proud of her as well. Then, the double silver medalist of the 2018 Asian games made an announcement that changed everything: she issued a statement that she was in a same sex relationship with a woman from her village and that she had been for five years. She called the young woman her ‘soul mate’ and expressed the hope that she would settle down with her one day; though she was currently concentrating fully on competing. Chand was quoted as having said that she found the courage to come out after the Supreme Court struck down Section 377 of the IPC and decriminalised homosexuality.
However, Dutee Chand faces a personal battle still. Her family appears not to have accepted her decision yet. Her elder sister has threatened to expel her from the family and has also threatened to initiate criminal proceedings against her. She took the decision to go public along with her partner and was quoted as having said “I believe in individual freedom and right to decide how and with whom I will live my life.”
While she faces censure and disapproval from people at home, American chat show host Ellen Degeneres had this to say via an Instagram post: “She’s the 100m record holder and the first openly gay sportsperson in India. I guess she knows a thing or two about being first. I’m so proud of her.”
Degeneres came out about being a lesbian in 1997 and faced a fierce backlash for this. For a while her career was in the doldrums and she herself battled depression. At the time her own mother had expressed shock, but later became one of Degeneres’ most ardent supporters. Degeneres has been in a relationship with her current partner Portia de Rossi since 2004 and the two also got married in 2008.
Degeneres’ statement echoes her own struggles and also offers support to Dutee Chand for the struggles that undoubtedly await her. The statement also offers hope and support to so many others in India and elsewhere; who are unable to speak out about their sexual orientations and who live in fear and secrecy. The comments accompanying the Instagram post are revealing. While there is some amount of negativity and trivialising of the issue, a major portion of the comment section consisted of praise and admiration for both the women and calls for Degeneres to invite Chand on to her show.
Dutee Chand is now a celebrity in her own right; a famous athlete and a person of means. When she made the statement that she did, she probably knew that there would be a backlash. Her fame is likely attracting a lot of hate and negativity; however her stature as a beloved athlete of India will probably equip her to weather the storm as well. The fact that she has the support of international personalities in her struggle itself would be a comfort to her.
However millions of other Indians do not have any kind of support and face the prospect of family rejection and even ostracism for their sexual orientation. Most do not have a choice but to continue to live a life of secrecy and lies. As we celebrate the courage that Dutee Chand has shown, we must also introspect about a society that still rejects and vilifies those who do not fit into the conventional heterosexual mould.
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