Had an interesting phone conversation with a friend today.

She works on the editing desk at a daily in Delhi. A couple of days back, she took an email for the letters to the editor section. The letter was sent regarding a news article on two lesbians in UP, who had decided to get married, and were getting plenty of press for it.

The person, in the letter, expressed his opinion on the gay rights issue, saying that it was great to see people coming forward, and demanding their rights. He added that revolutionary thinkers rarely find takers in their own time, and that people like BR Ambedkar and Raja Ram Mohan Roy too had to deal with stiff opposition before they could bring about changes in social mindsets.

The following day, after the letter had been printed, several people did a dharna outside the paper's Mumbai office and protested against the letter's content.

Were they homophobes? No.

They thought the paper was making out Ambedkar and Roy to be pro-homosexuality.