23 year-old athlete, Dutee Chand, revealed on Sunday, 19/05/19, that she has been in a same-sex relationship for the past five years with her soulmate back home in her village of Gopalpur. India’s 100m record holder and winner of two Asian Games silver medal, thus became India’s first sportsperson to admit to being in a same-sex relationship.
She says that Indian Supreme Court’s historic decision to decriminalise gay sex between consenting adults in 2018 encouraged her to speak up publicly about her sexuality.
The sprinter of Odisha’s Jajpur village, is the leading light fighting for the eligibility of female athletes in fields and track events. She is of the opinion that none have the right to judge her as an athlete because of her sexual orientation and that it is a personal decision which should be respected.
“I have always believed that everyone should have the freedom to love. There is no greater emotion than love and it should not be denied. The Supreme Court of India has also struck down the old law. I believe nobody has the right to judge me as an athlete because of my decision to be with who I want. It is a personal decision, which should be respected. I will continue to strive to win medals for India at international meets,” Dutee told the Indian Express.
A sufferer of hyperandrogenism herself, a condition where the body naturally produces high level of testosterone levels, she was previously barred from competing in India’s Commonwealth Games team under the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules and abused for being “unfeminine”. But she successfully moved the Court of Arbitration For Sports in Laussane against the IAAF rules on hyperandrogenism, which put a cap on the testosterone levels of women athletes, and run the 2018 Asian Games and winning two silver medals for the country.
She is currently training Hyderabad to qualify for the World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics happening in 2020.
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