A Leap of Pride
Gautam Yadav was 17 when he came out to his parents in 2008. “I wanted to travel to the Delhi Pride, and so I had to tell them.” His father is a motor-rickshaw driver, who, though not formally educated, is interested in current affairs; he accepted his son’s sexual orientation from the start. His mother was more subdued and feared that he might suffer from stigma, but she did not reject him either. “I expected a lot more drama,” Gautam says.