Mumbai gays campaign for Milk

The release of Milk, a heavyweight Oscar contender that is a biopic on Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to run for public office in San Fransisco in the 1970s, has encouraged members of Mumbai's gay community to launch ‘Operation Flood’ — an SMS campaign — for its nationwide release.

Anticipating the movie's release Friday, journalist Vikram Doctor sent out what is now a chain SMS on Wednesday, urging residents of Mumbai and Pune to pack the theatres with family and friends. “Tipped by the distributors that Milk was only slated for limited release, a colleague suggested I gather a larger audience for the film so that it could possibly reach other cities in India. The film makes a strong argument for tolerance and this struggle for gay rights 26 years ago in the US rings true with the situation in India today,” said Doctor.

Humsafar trustee Nitin Karani said, “Milk is a very good film.” But, at the same time, he believes the SMS campaign is no more than soft activism and it won't amount to much.