KASHISIH Rainbow Warrior awards for Ashok Row Kavi and Wendell Rodricks
Bollywood actor Celina Jaitley presents award at cosining ceremony of 5th KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival
Ashok Row Kavi, gay activist and founder of
Humsafar Trust and Wendell Rodricks, one of India’s top fashion designers, were
awarded the KASHISH Rainbow Warriors Award on Sunday May 25, 2014. The award
instituted this year by KASHISH Mumbai
International Queer Film Festival recognises the work of persons in furthering
LGBT rights.
Bollywood actor and former Miss India Celina
Jaitley presented Ashok Row Kavi with a trophy and a rainbow sash at the glittering
closing ceremony of the fifth KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival
at the iconic Liberty Cinema.
Celina Jaitley who has been voval in her
support of equal rights and the fight against section 377 that criminalises
same sex relationships, said that ``it was an honour to present the award to
one of India’s first and for decades the only gay rights activist.’’
``We live in difficult times following the
Supreme Court verdict recriminalising same sex relationships and a turbulent
political climate,’’ said Ashok Row Kavi. ``Don’t rely on politicians or
Parliament to come to the aid of the community or change laws. We all fought
for decades to get the law changed. The fight now will have to be fought by us,’’
he added.
Wendell Rodricks who was in Bhutan and could
not be present to receive his award sent a message: ``My dear friends, from
over the rainbow in Bhutan, I send you my best wishes. I regret that I am not
with you all this evening to celebrate the closing ceremony of what has been a
celebratory week of LGBT cinema from around the world. This year 2014 has truly
begun as a year for the LGBT community in India. Despite the Supreme Court’s
verdict on Section 377, the transgender community got sexual status
recognition, a bearded drag queen won the Eurovision contest in the face of
much opposition from regressive Russia and here at home an openly gay man
received the Padma Shri. And now you give me this award. How honoured and happy
am I! Thank you everyone at Kashish. More power to us all. More peace, freedom
and equality in India and the world around us. Soldier on. Stay happy. And gay!’’
Festival Sridhar Rangayan said:"While
KASHISH was envisioned to be a film festival, over the years it has
grown to become much more - a mainstream platform for exhibition and
distribution of LGBT themed films, a space for discussion on LGBT issues
and cinema, and more importantly one of the biggest pride events in
India. It is also become a place where we acknowledge, preserve and
archive Indian and world LGBT history. We felt it is the perfect
platform to recognize the outstanding efforts of individuals in India
who have contributed to LGBT visibility and empowerment by instituting
an award that perpetuates this history in people's consciousness."
In the first year KASHISH has chosen to bestow the
Rainbow Warrior Award on two remarkable individuals have mainstreamed
queer visibility and been unapologetically outspoken - Ashok Row Kavi
and Wendell Rodricks.
