A few months ago I watched the news with awe as they were showing the landmark decision of the Delhi High Court, which changed India’s stand on gay rights. The Delhi high court scrapped parts of section 377, a colonial law that criminalised gay sex.
Of course that has sent a strong signal to Indian gay rights activists, who cheered the decision and the principle affirmation of homosexuals as part of Indian society. This is the first time that an Indian court has gone on record to say that sexual minorities are not second-class citizens, and that they cannot be discriminated against.
People who are supporting the rights for gay people say that the transgendered people have high rates of depression, suicide, substance abuse and relationship difficulties because of the lack of acceptance within the society & family. They live a suffocating closeted life and carry on to become victims of depression, alcoholism and drug abuse. For decades, the police and sometimes society at large used the law as an excuse to persecute gay men and women, who were harassed, blackmailed, detained or raped, unable to seek any protection or justice from the law.
Why are we not able to accept them? Is this really giving a bad name to India? We know that they are remarkably strong and creative individuals (choreographers, fashion designers, hotel professionals, etc.). By denying the existence of gay people, or even something like the looming existence of AIDS in India, we can’t stop its presence, or impending consequence. Just by closing our eyes, can we deny the fact that such things exist? Even when Raja Ram Mohan Roy first started his movement against “Sati pratha” he faced the same division in the society. But did it make him stop?
Religious leaders and majority of Indians are against it. Religious groups in India have warned they will oppose any move to legalize homosexuality. For them, no matter what, homosexuality is “unnatural” and by supporting these kinds of activities, we will only be encouraging and promoting such tendencies. Getting such ambience and influence, even "normal" human beings can fall for gay tendencies.
Reverend Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, said the Catholic church has nothing against gays per se, he stressed, ‘‘We strongly believe that sex between same sex partners is immoral, unnatural and unethical.
In fact, Mumbai’s Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) circulated mass SMSs appealing to Catholics to protest against the move to legalize homosexuality. "We protest on both, health and religious grounds. We have statistics to prove that a large number of HIV cases are gay, and this verdict may lead to an AIDS epidemic of sorts,’’ Dias added.
Muslim clerics in both Mumbai and Delhi expressed shock. ‘‘India is secular, but most Indians are religious and no religion allows this. If homosexuality is legalised, it will damage our cultural and moral values."
Hindu and Sikh religious leaders share the same sentiments. Swami Ramdev expressed his views by saying, “If our parents had been gays, would we have been born? Freedom doesn’t mean licence. Our family system is the only ideal we can show to the world. Sadly, this judgment will end up corrupting it. I will be part of every protest against the judgment.’’
Do you think we are making unnecessary noise against this issue? Do people really convert themselves into homosexuals getting an opportunity or ambience? Is it really going to harm India’s image in the world? Should we accept gays as part of our society as they too are human as we are? Or do you think they are really evil and need to be sent for counselling? Don’t you think by accepting them, we will make the families of those more comfortable in accepting their gay children? Don’t you think we are victims of our pre-conceived values? Our minds are conditioned and any new invention, knowledge or awareness initially compel us to reject it.
How many of us really try to educate ourselves so that we can be more accepting to things which are not like us? It is difficult to know what is wrong or right. Thus, I would like to gain your views, ideas, and perspectives on this issue.
Your topic of discussion is quite bold and may sound controversial, as our society is not mature enough to face the truth on its face value. A person with immature mind may construe the subject negatively. I admire your guts in discussing controversial aspects of the society.
ReplyDeleteTo me, every human being has the same intrinsic value whether the person is straight or gay. In case of gay people, I always thought that they are the anomalies of nature as such they do not have control on their biological demand or physical behaviours. Their uncommon actions and responses are accordingly enshrined in their body and mind. Being a part of the humanity, they too have the right to live and assimilate like any other normal person.
However, I strongly feel that in terms of the percentage of the total population of the world, the number of real transgendered people is very limited. Majority of the people who claim to be gay are not gay due to the natural causes but may be due to their experimentation or cravings for the extra sensual pleasure. I believe that about 30% of the total gay people in the world are gay due to the natural reasons and 70% of the people have preferred to become gay due to their convenience or pervert nature or use it as a tool for climbing the ladder of success.
I know a friend of mine since school days that surprisingly became a gay when he joined a top organization as an executive. Later on I came to know from him that how his boss invited him to his apartment for a dinner and tried to be too intimate with him. Being a highly ambitious person and in order to climb the ladder of success, he allowed himself to live like a gay person thereafter, and now he is a very top official in an international organization. When I analyze his behaviour, then I find that if he had been a gay by birth, then certainly I would have known because of my long association with him. Therefore, I believe that the majority of people like him are becoming a sore in the society, a bad example in the development of natural human relationships which is going against the harmony of human life.
Unfortunately, in the name of being modern, we are completely ignoring the nature and the natural way of living. Anything, which is not natural or not in harmony with nature, is automatically, destroys with the passage of time. This is the reason that the disease like AIDS is on the rise worldwide and particularly in India.
To conclude, I am sympathetic towards the person who is gay due to natural causes and they should have all the social and legal rights. But I have strong reservations for the people who get indulged into the unnatural activities for the pleasure or success. I think this is the direct fall out of our blindly following the ills of the western world, which is a pleasure based society and has no guiding principles of morality or dharma. With the onslaught of the audio-visual media in India, this tendency has been given undue impetus at the cost of our ‘Sanatan Dharma’. People with the weaker mind, polluted ‘Sanskara’ or perverted background, will easily get the ideas of joining the gay rights movement and may get encouraged to use it as a tool to justify their lust for the pleasure, social or materialistic success.
Dear Ninu
ReplyDeleteAmused to read your views on Gay rights.Such topics best can be discussed and views exchanged when face to face - at a distanc of few milimeters or utmost centimeters and not thousands of miles away.
Gays or lesbians are personal choice. Now the Indian Judiciary has also given it a legitimate status ((between two adults ). There should not be any hue and cry in public. Sex has always been a taboo in Indian Society hence it was expected to generate lot of heat on this topic. After all, such acts are known only with special creature - "human beings" and not with other creatures on the earth.
Jiju
quite an enlightening piece of reading, Gay rights in India is such a sensitive issue and this also takes place in other democratic countries i.e. Jamaica where Gays are killed and abused like one cannot imagine. But can you tell us if you had any experience on this issue in India can you please elaborate.
ReplyDeletethank you
In reply to Roger,
ReplyDeleteIn terms of experience, I have encountered many transgendered people that are referred to as ‘eunuchs’ in India. They are not considered high class and are still struggling to make a name for themselves in the country. I do not know them personally, but have seen interviews and news shows which make me feel that just because they are not heterosexual does not make them bad people. Because of the ostracism that they have to face, they end up doing menial jobs and cannot earn the respect they want. It is indeed difficult and controversial to agree with one side over the other. Perhaps science can enlighten us on this issue. According to my research, there has not been any find of genetic proof for the outcome of homosexuality. However, there have been articles written in science magazines that illustrate brain structure similarity of gay men and women and vice versa. In other words, sexual orientation perhaps is not fully realized by a person till they hit adolescence, but the way one thinks and behaves reflects the way the brain is structured. So, there is a possibility that gay men or women are born with brain structures similar to those of the opposite sex. Hence, their way of thinking influences their behaviour and preferences. I cannot speak of this with complete confidence as I am not a research scientist, but I would like to get across the fact that there could be more than what meets the eye when it comes to the origin of homosexuality. Perhaps the society needs to be more aware that there is something out there that could explain the high frequency of homosexuals and could try and understand that nature may play a part in this outcome.
Hai Nina,
ReplyDeleteHad problem with connectivity, living in a city with poor power supply...
Gay rights- 377 has hit different angles...
Youngsters have taken it is as if it is an accepted norm and should have been a Right of its own. Teens especially feel it is human beings choice and individual right to privacy, why should there be a hue and cry...
Mid forties and fifties it is atrocious, more dumb struck and as u rightly pointed out it is India..Where is India going to... as it is it is going to dogs seeing the west and added to this is the 377 change!!!
For the politician it is a golden apple... ripe at time of state leg elections, they only need any bit of ripple to toss thier dice and suit their ballot system to fill their boxes. This has come in a timely fashion.... especially in Maharashtra... one sector the radicals and hinduthva... it is criminal... of course the oppositions it is Fundamental RIght... Intrusion to individual rights....
Cosmopolitan cities chennai,mumbai, pune bangalore it is all ok... ya... what big deal.... Not sure about north India... no idea...
Hope i have given u a weee bit of this end happenings... keep u posted..
If u can look up Pune mirror page 3 issue dated 19/9-09 regarding this matter
Sharing my personal views to this Bold and Controversial Topic , Same-sex relationships threatens the fabric of traditional Indian society.
ReplyDeleteIn lieu of the the 2 points mentioned below, i strongly condemned the legalising of Gay Sex.
1)
India's top TV yoga expert - Swami Ramdev Maharaj has challenged a court ruling legalising gay sex in the country - claiming it is a "disease" that can be cured by meditative practices.
2)
Astrologer Suresh Kumar Kaushal has also filed a petition against the high court decision, arguing that if gay sex is legalised, "tomorrow people might seek permission for having sex with animals".
~Utsav Dutta
I attended a lecture almost a decade back in San Francisco on the same subject.The lecture was given by a lady, jewish,black and lesbian.She said she had everything loaded against her.Gender,religion,race and sexual preference.The highlight of the lecture was a plea for people to understand that no form of chauvinism has any place in civil society.We talk of tolerance as a great virtue,but remember that it is only the starting point.we must evolve to be inclusive and finally celebrate the differences whatever that may be.
ReplyDeleteI do know friends who are not 'straight' but it is a matter for them to decide. Is the purpose of sex only for procreation? I don't think i need to state the obvious.
The problem in contemporary society is that we tend to be judgemental. We think that most of us are favouring the 'straight path' and that is the most 'natural thing'. I have talked to several people whose sexual preference is not on the accepted norm and they have all said that it was a discovery for them that they get attracted to people of their own sex. No special conditions existed for this to happen. In other words it happened very naturally.
I think we should stop being judgemental, stop marginalising people who do not conform to Societal expectations and more critically try to be empathetic. Let individuals decide what their preferences are and let us not coerce people into fitting into systems. IT WILL NOT WORK.