A TV news report in the Indian city of Hyderabad has outed several men.
Channel TV9 Telugu sought out gay mens’ profiles on an online dating site and showed them in a programme called Gay Culture Rampant in Hyderabad.
The programme called members of planetromeo.com ‘deviants’ and clearly exposed their names and photos.
The reporter even phoned two of the men, secretly recording them while he asked personal questions about their sex lives and where they live and work. These recordings were broadcast on the programme, along with images of the two men.
The programme also featured secretly recorded footage from inside a gay club.
The programme insisted, according to an English translation of the script, that white-collar workers and students were becoming “slaves to [a] lifestyle which is against the natural way”.
One man attempted suicide after his parents saw him on the programme, reports Indian TV company NDTV.
Indian gay rights campaigners have called on members of the gay community to complain to TV9.
Gay rights activist Aditya Bondyopadhyay sent an open letter to the TV channel, in which she accuses the producers of “hunting down” gay people for the “titillation” of their viewers.
The letter points out that the programme was a “clear case of entrapment”, asks for a public apology and warns that legal action may be taken.
