The Same-Sex Marriage Case being heard in the Supreme Court has an Ahmedabad connection. Among the lawyers currently engaged in the fight for marriage equality is a 24-year-old graduate of the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) named Rohin Bhatt. Born in Bhavnagar, where his father was a civil servant and mother a college lecturer, Rohin did his schooling from St Xavier’s Gandhinagar and Udgam School Ahmedabad. A prolific writer, the young lawyer has been gaining traction on Twitter, with his erudite posts. In an exclusive interview with VO! Rohin talks about LGBT rights, bioethics and growing up gay in Ahmedabad:
VO!: What role have you been playing in the Supreme Court case?
Rohin: I work in the chambers of senior advocates Indira Jaising and Anand Grover who represent litigants in the case. I provide legal and research assistance. I joined them in July last year and since then, I have drafted two petitions, one in the case filed by Sameer Samudra and the other in the case filed by Nitin Karani.
VO!: How did you come to be working on this case?
Rohin: I applied for the job when I was doing my Masters in Bioethics at Harvard Law School in Boston. I wanted to work in the field of LGBT rights. Indira Jaising offered me a job and I packed my bags for India as soon as I graduated.
VO!: What was it like, growing up gay in Ahmedabad?
Rohin: I guess I went through everything people go through. I was bullied in school. I was a bookish boy. For the most part, I was in the closet though my five years in GNLU. I had gay friends I had met through dating Apps but I wasn’t a part of the gay scene. I stayed away from queer events. I had the fortitude to come out only after I got admission to Harvard in 2021. I came out with a post on Instagram.
VO!: How did your family react?
Rohin: I talked to my younger sibling first and then to my parents. They’ve moved from accepting it to embracing it. They are very supportive.
VO!: What was the Harvard stint like?
Rohin: It’s the best thing to have happened to me. I was among brilliant minds. In Boston, I also got a chance to explore my queerness for the first time. I went to all the gay bars and restaurants, met all kinds of people. It was very liberating.
VO!: Why did you choose to specialise in bioethics?
Rohin: Bioethics deals with philosophical issues in medicine and it’s a subject that interested me when I was in Ahmedabad. I was the founder of the Bioethics Project at GNLU. I’m working on a book titled “Bioethics in Modi’s India,” which will look at the right to health from a philosophical and legal standpoint. There’s a lot of law and regulation involved in healthcare.
VO!: Do you plan to return to bioethics once the same-sex marriage case is over?
Rohin: Not at all. There’s still a lot of work to be done in the area of LGBT rights. Enough to keep me busy for the rest of my life.
VO!: Do you plan to get married anytime soon?
Rohin: I do have a boyfriend who I met on Twitter nine months ago. He lives in Mumbai. But it’s too soon to think of marriage.
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