On Wednesday (April 19), India Today courted controversy after its bridal platform posted images of Indian-origin trans activist Alok Vaid-Menon on the cover of its digital magazine.
‘Brides Today’ displayed pictures of Menon wearing Indian attire and jewellery, meant for women. It also published the transcript of an interview with the activist, wherein Alok Vaid Menon alleged that India is being discriminatory by not normalising same-sex marriages.
“Denying legal recognition of same-sex marriage is a form of institutionalised discrimination that must be addressed”, he claimed.
“At the same time, it’s important to not see marriage equality as the principal and singular issue facing LGBTQI+ communities; Dalit trans communities have been petitioning for horizontal reservation, and this issue hasn’t received as much attention,” he further added.
Social media users were taken aback by the decision of India Today to publish images of the trans activist in female attire on the cover page.
“Alok Vaid is a US citizen, which gives some relief. If this cancer reaches India then I am in full support of sharia law,” wrote one user.
Alok Vaid is an US citizen, that gives some relief. If this cancer reaches India then I am in full support of sharia law https://t.co/RS07Pz9eYa
— Naanu𓃵 (@Tw33tShoot3r) April 24, 2023
Another Twitter user posted a meme from ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, which warned that people will continue to remain fools as long as ‘movies’ are screened in the country.
— Rahul M Maheswari 🇮🇳 (@rahulsofficial) April 24, 2023
“I thought the gender identity is western disease, but damn it, it is contagious and spreading to India also. We need to prevent our children from such sick ideologies,” tweeted one Dr Vivek.
I thought the gender identity is western disease, but damn it, it is contagious and spreading to India also. We need to prevent our children from such sick ideologies.
— Dr.Vivek Raskar (@DrVivek1886) April 24, 2023
“He needs hospital not magazine cover page,” wrote one user.
He needs hospital not magazine cover page.
— Vipin (@HeyVipzz) April 24, 2023
“When people used to say this is just the beginning of Kaliyug, there is more to unfold, I used to laugh at them thinking how can it get any worse, but now am dumbstruck. Hope god gives us strength to bear all this non-sense n still survive!” wrote one Aparnaa.
When people used to say this is just the beginning of Kaliyug, there is more to unfold, I used to laugh at them thinking how can it get any worse, but now am dumbstruck. Hope god gives us strength to bear all this non-sense n still survive!
— Aparnaa Shamanth (@AparnaShamanth) April 24, 2023
This is not the first time that Alok Vaid-Menon has courted controversy. He was accused of sexualising underage girls in a Facebook post published in 2016. “These days the narrative is that transgender people will come into bathrooms and abuse little girls,” he wrote.
“I believe in the radical notion that little girls are complicated people. There are no fairy tales and no princesses here. Little girls are trans, queer, kinky, devious, kind, mean, beautiful, ugly, tremendous and peculiar,” the trans activist further claimed.
“Your kids aren’t as straight and narrow as you think they are. Like everybody else, I’ve been a cute little girl,” he wrote, suggesting that he had sexual relationship with adults when he was a minor.
Recently, the Supreme Cort of India formed a 5-judge constitution bench to fast-track the hearing on the matter related to giving recognition to same-sex marriage under Special Marriage Act. The government of India has already opposed it in the apex court
