Sprinter Dutee Chand shared an Instagram picture with partner Monalisa this afternoon. Chand, 26, is the first Indian athlete to openly acknowledge being in a same-sex relationship.
The Olympian and world gold medallist was photographed with Monalisa at her sister Anjana Chand’s wedding. “Love is love,” Dutee Chand captioned the photograph, which shows her in blue trousers and a blazer. Monalisa wears a lehenga in the picture.
Dutee Chand and Monalisa have been together for four years. Their relationship made headlines in 2019 when it was involuntarily outed by local media channels who reported that the star athlete was in a relationship with a woman from her hometown.
Chand, who belongs to Odisha, faced a tough battle of acceptance in her family at the time. “I told her (Dutee) that I cannot accept this,” the athlete’s mother was quoted as saying by news agency ANI in 2019.
It appears as if things have changed in Chand’s favour since then. “Whether they declare my relationship on TV or in a magazine, it doesn’t make a difference to me. I’m not doing anything wrong,” the athlete told Vogue in March.
Opening up about their relationship, Chand said, “Everyone needs a sahara (support) in life, whether they choose a girl or boy. We motivate each other when we are demoralised; when I’m stressed about competitions, she’s my support.”
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