75 years ago we freed ourselves from the british and as we progressed as an independent nation we continued to shake off other chains that bound us this independence day we asked some noted indians about the shackles theyd be happy to be rid offreedom for samesex couples to marryparmesh shahani author diversity and inclusion advocatefreedom is something that my constitution guarantees me but why is it that 75 years after independence my fellow lgbtqia citizens and i continue to have less rights than others with section 377 gone we are no longer considered criminal but its abolition hasnt allowed me to enjoy the rights and freedoms that other straight citizens enjoy in indiafor instance we still dont have lgbtqia marriages that are recognised by our courts of law why is this so we as queer citizens pay the same taxes are as patriotic as others and have contributed equally to nationbuilding over decades so why this disparity marriage rights would help me honour the sanctity of my relationship with my partner with whom ive been for many years why should i not be allowed to honour our relationship with marriage the same way my straight friends canparmesh shahaniits important legally as well id like to leave whatever i have to my partner i want my partner to make medical decisions on my behalf and not other family members because were not recognised my partner has no locus standi some years down the line we may also want to adopt children of our own like queer citizens do in other parts of the world marriage equality would be a step towards societal acceptance and freedom my wish this independence day is to live in an inclusive indian society where parents accept their queer children and all our other institutions are also inclusive colleges workplaces and more and i want to see this change in my lifetime because im tired of waitingfreedom to talk about sexparomita vohra filmmaker founder of agentsofishqcomwhat does it mean to be free to talk about sex for too long the definition of sexual freedom has been based on a stereotype of the sexmachine straight man speaking more freely about sex reveals the surprising and beautiful heterogeneity of human desire liberating us from many sexual myths templated behaviours and faltu moralities no matter what our gender or orientation sexual freedom means the possibility to understand ones own sexual nature and craft a sexual journey true to that nature how can we have that without a more wideranging conversation about sexmost of the time acceptable conversation about sex is really about sexual violence or through abstract terms like sexuality or empowerment to talk of sex freely means to talk about all its aspects pleasurable and painful abstract and experiential political and personal because sex is so tabooed everything related to sexuality becomes secret we remain ignorant about safe sex hesitate to see doctors for sexual issues are inhibited about talking to partners about our preferences or hurts