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@ReallySwara since you are going to be on Zoom with @AsliMahilaManch tomorrow, I just thought you should know what they're really like. I performed with them for many months back in 2018 and finally left when I couldn't put up with their hypocrisy anymore.
I was sexually assaulted by someone and I would have dealt with it on my own, but for the fear that I'll have to meet that person again while performing with @AsliMahilaManch. One of them even asked me 'are you sure it wasn't a joke?' The full story is on https://feminisminindia.com/2018/10/18/me-too-queer-community/
So I was wanted in the group only as long as I was a useful exhibit to show how progressive the group was for including a woman like me. But when I feared for my safety, I was asked 'are you sure it wasn't a joke?' On the surface, they kept up the charade of believing me...
But privately, this question and their behaviour in general was alienating and distressing. It didn't matter to them whether I was suicidal most of the time as long as I kept up a happy face in public. Any opinions I had about the actual content in our shows were sidelined...
For example, after the Sep 2018 judgment against 377, they wanted to call someone homophobic to spice up their next show. I opposed it but my opinion as a queer woman didn't matter, because they saw it as a challenge to their dictatorial hold on the group. Others who pretended...
...to be allies told me that if I didn't care for their friendship, then they didn't want to discuss any 'social issues' with me. So there you go - use a queer woman to show your token fake progressivism, dismiss her concerns as a 'social issue' that is not as important...
...ask her if she is sure her abuser wasn't 'joking', and when nothing else works, just resort to the old 'my way or highway' approach. This is the reality of @AsliMahilaManch, so I hope @ReallySwara you will look at this as you go ahead and let your name be associated with them.
