Free & Equal – ‘The Welcome’

The video above is the latest from the UN’s Free & Equal campaign. They describe it as “the first-ever Bollywood music video for gay rights”, and the message is, “everyone should be welcomed into their family's hearts, regardless of their sexual orientation” because love is a family value.

The video features Bollywood star and Miss India winner Celina Jaitly (she was stalked in New Zealand when she was here to film a movie). While the video’s also subtitled in English, it’s probably something that many Westerners just won’t grasp—but that’s kind of beside the point: The people that most need to get the message of such videos are not necessarily in the USA or Western Europe (for example).

In December of last year, India’s Supreme Court issued a bizarre ruling that reinstated Section 377 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), the anti-sodomy law that the British Empire imposed during the days of the Raj. Hopefully this video will help gain broader understanding in India so the law can be done away with permanently.

To make a world that's truly free and equal will take the efforts of people working in ways that are culturally appropriate for them, and that reach different audiences. This video, like the one I posted last year, is a good part of that effort.

Once again, well done to the United Nations Human Rights Human Rights Office and their Free & Equal campaign. LGBT rights are human rights; I’m very happy to see the UN promoting that simple fact.