Dutee Chand: Fears for safety of India’s first openly gay athlete after decision to come out provokes backlash

‘What she is doing is immoral and unethical’, her father says

Dutee Chand, India’s fastest sprinter, revealed last month she is in a same-sex relationship with a woman from her village (EPA)

A backlash from members of her family and village has prompted fears for the safety of India’s first openly gay athlete.

Dutee Chand, India’s fastest sprinter, revealed she is in a same-sex relationship with a woman from her village of Gopalpur, a community of weavers, in May.

She told the Indian Express she found the courage to come out after the country scrapped its colonial-era ban on gay sex last year.

Ms Chand told the paper she had found her soulmate, and added: “I believe everyone should have the freedom to be with whoever they decide they want to be with.”

However, while many celebrated her coming out, some people in her village and members of her family reacted negatively.

“What she is doing is immoral and unethical. She has destroyed the reputation of our village,” her father said.

“We have only seen such things in movies. We don’t behave like this here,” a 21-year-old in the village said. ”She was one of our own, but she let us down.”

The president of the village’s weavers co-operative society said: “We were proud that a weaver’s daughter from here won medals. But all of us were shocked to know about her relationship.”

Ms Chand’s supporters fear for her safety amid harsh attacks against the country’s LGBT+ population.

Payoshni Mitra, an athletes rights advocate who has worked with Ms Chand, told The Guardian: “With the return of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata party to power, a series of attacks on minorities, including sexual minorities, are being reported.

“However, while it could be dangerous to be openly gay, one cannot live in fear of the consequences – and Dutee’s coming out gives us that message.”

But Ms Dutee herself said she felt “at peace” after coming out.