Law against Love! Homosexuality still illegal in India
Homosexuality is still illegal in India, thanks to a British colonial law incorporated in the Indian Penal Code. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code declares homosexuality illegal; it states:
“Whoever voluntarily has sex against the
order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with
imprisonment for life, or for a term that may extend to 10years.”
Voices Against 377 is a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
formed specifically to tackle this illegal law! (Could they not find a more attractive name?) They petitioned the Supreme Court of India to change this outmoded law so that thousands of gays, lesbians and transgendered people may be restored human rights.
However, the Supreme Court decided that Indian society is not yet ready for homosexuality! Is that even a basis for a judgement? There are people out there whose love for others of the same sex and the sexual acts thereof are criminal. Not only are they denied love, they are even denied recognition. The State refuses to acknowledge the existence of these people.
Indian society is not ready to accept homosexuals as is evident from the hue and cry raised by religious organizations whenever a movie with a homosexual theme is released. Not only are the Christians and Muslims enraged by homosexuality, but peculiarly, Hindu groups of the Sangh Parivar try to outdo them. As far as Hinduism is concerned, Manu Smriti prescribes that a man who has sex with another man be punished by having to take a shower! A lesbian act does not find condemnation, and legend has it that Bhagirath was born of two women.
Why RSS and VHP find homosexuality distasteful is beyond my comprehension. I find it ironical that they should adopt this stance belonging to the Abrahamic religions that they stauchly fight when it comes to many other matters. Their anglicization is unmistakable, for I am unaware of any other segment of Indian society protesting homosexuality. Why, occasional reports of same-sex marraiges conducted by Hindu priests according to Hindu rituals can be found in the Indian media. The same priests go on to say hearteningly that they do not find these circumstances uncomfortable and in fact endorse love between two people irrespective of their gender.
Gay nightlife in Delhi and Mumbai are surfacing and so is the voice of gays and lesbians to legalize homosexuality in India. Recently, Voices against 377 has written recently to the Indian government demanding a repeal of Section 377 of IPC, which prescribes punishment for gays. This has gained vehement support from noted celebrities such as Amartya Sen, Vikram Seth, Swami Agnivesh, Soli Sorabjee, Mira Nair, Nandita Das, Soha Ali Khan, Shobha De, Ashis Nandy, Aditi Desai, Arundhati Roy and Jhumpa Lahiri.
It is highly disappointing that the world’s largest democracy should neglect and deny basic rights to a segment of its population just because their sexual orientation is different. However, the movement to legalize homosexuality in India is gaining momentum and I hope that Indian gays and lesbians may freely love in the near future. Try participating in Desigay!
Related Articles |
Comments
read the law carefully …the keyword is “Against the Order of Nature ” , same sex relationship is against nature, if nature or GOD or whatever we call the force that created us, thought that same sex is okay, then there would never be such a thing called opposite sex. if same sex is perfectly okay, why not we all have sex with animals and call it perfectly okay, and maybe start a few “NGO’s” in support of the same !!
camilla sex tranny