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Karan Johar Is No Gay Rights Activist: Why Do We Expect It Of Him?

Karan Johar won’t come out. He will not lead a parade. Why did we expect it of him?

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A few days ago, the tabloids were abuzz with news that in his forthcoming biography An Unsuitable Boy (we love the Vikram Seth reference!), Karan Johar had all but come out. This is all very well, but I don’t know why it made headlines. Johar’s sexuality is possibly Bollywood’s worst kept secret. If he had come out all guns blazing in support of the LGBTQIA movement, it would have been news. Instead, Johar admitted resignedly that “everyone knows what my sexual orientation is”.

He couldn’t bring himself to use the word gay.

In an ideal world, he would be Bollywood’s Ellen Degeneres: Beloved talk show host, comedian and advocate for gay rights. His admission would have heartened young people who were struggling with their sexuality and perhaps given some of them the courage to come out. However, he is not Ellen and he is unwilling to set an example.

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He Doesn’t Owe It To Us To Lead A Revolution

Honestly, that’s fine. He doesn’t have to lead a revolution if he doesn’t want to. One’s sexuality is one’s own business; he doesn’t owe it to anyone to come out. The LGBTQIA movement is doing just fine without his endorsement, and his reticent admission of his sexuality won’t make any difference to the movement.

Why Were We Expecting It Of Him?

The question is, why were we expecting him to be a role model in the first place?

Karan Johar’s approach to cinema has always been populist – his films have always appealed to the lowest common denominator. Johar has always been the conformist; he has never taken it upon himself to challenge the status quo. Even Dostana, which a number of people lauded for introducing homosexuality to mainstream Bollywood, was a regressive effort at best. Two straight men pretending to be gay in order to win the affections of a woman doesn’t do much for gay rights. If anything, all it does is take the conversation backwards to a time when gayness in cinema was a comedic trope.

Karan Johar won’t come out. He will not lead a parade. Why did we expect it of him?
A still from the film Dostana.

More recently, when the intolerant, lumpen MNS clamoured for a ban on Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil because Fawad Khan was acting in it, the filmmaker humbly, passionately reaffirmed his patriotism and promised not to work with Pakistani talent again. Why are we expecting this man to be a bastion for gay rights in the country? His past record is proof of his unwillingness to publicly endorse a cause.

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Karan Johar Will Not Come Out

Taking a stand is expensive: It can cost you friends and popular support – both are things Karan Johar cannot afford to lose. In the extract from his biography, he reveals the social media hate he has to deal with every day. Trolls on Twitter have accused him of “polluting” the nation and have asked him to shove section 377 up his arse (oh, the irony!). No one can blame him for not wanting to have to deal with more of that.

Karan Johar will not come out. Karan Johar will not lead a parade. And no, we don’t quite have a right to be disappointed. The problem was with us: Why did we expect it of him in the first place?

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