Excerpts from Karan Johar’s forthcoming book Unsuitable Boy are doing the rounds in the media and there have been several viewpoints on Karan’s veiled coming out of the closet via a non-admission about his sexuality. One of the excerpts from his book says:
Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don’t need to scream it out. If I need to spell it out, I won’t only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is why I Karan Johar will not say the three words that possibly everybody knows about me.Karan Johar (Unsuitable Boy, Penguin India)
While a lot of people on social media have come out in support of Karan, screenwriter and editor Apurva Asrani had a different point of view. Apurva shared his thoughts on his Facebook page and said:
People are calling Karan Johar brave for his statement about staying closeted for fear of arrest. I think Karan is a nice guy, but brave he is certainly not. If everyone stays closeted, waiting for the law to change, we will stay in stuffy closets for eternity.Remember that the Supreme Court upheld the regressive 377, stating that gay people were a ‘minuscule minority’. It is because of the same fear that Karan embodies, that there are no numbers. If we want equal rights and a life of dignity, we have to start coming out. That’s what really counts!Apurva Asrani (Facebook)
Brave or not, Karan Johar’s book has fortunately brought out the much needed discussion on the acceptance of homosexuality and the need to repeal section 377 out of the closet again.
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