Get Inspired, Be Empowered Forums LGBTQ Issues & Rights Why is homosexuality against Indian culture?

15 replies, 14 voices Last updated by Afshan Iqbal 2 years ago
  • Woospire
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    Tanima
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    It’s believed majorly that ‘the idea of homosexuality is an illess, brought by the western culture’
    We,Indians proudly claimed it. Though after banishing homosexuality from section 377,court doesn’t agree for homosexual marriage yet, our society still have a long time to accept that this theory is absolutely normal.
    Primarily you can say, there’s lack of education on homosexuality. It’s normal for us to have a pair of xx or xy chromosome and thus to be attracted towards opposite sex. But it’s never been studied about sex orientation and their results in human. It may seems strange but yes, our elder ones can’t even accept about the existence of same sex attraction.
    Further more, if you trust that it’s an illness or a Victorian style to fight alongside the LGBTQ community, you are mistaking our Indian Ocean of culture. Homosexuality was never against it, it’s always at the core of our culture as India had it’s long known heritage of preserving all kind of differences between human including homosexuality.
    If we start from vedic age, in our one of the top most sacred text, Rigveda, state about “Vikriti ebam Prakriti”, means being unnatural is also natural. Many old written texts, ancient temples, long-heard stories, Khajuraho sculpture, even Ramayana has been declaring homosexuality openly.
    Then from where these against homosexuality rituals are being made? Actually that western culture, whom you accused of taking these culture, is against it. Our Indian culture had always preserved homosexuality in it. But sadly at 18 th century, with the starting of British era, they claimed our culture to be the blizzare one as they can’t accept it’s vast differences and openly acceptance towards sex and sex orientation. Thus, article 377 came to ban all kind of sexual orientation which were unnatural to them. Though through various long legal battle and courage, we at last successfully paved the way for liberation of LGBTQ community, those Victorian culture got entrenched in our society.
    According to even greatest of journalists, leaders, critics, author homosexuality is an illness and thus can be cured by medicines, yoga and sometimes by electric shock method leading to mental breakdown and disorder.
    Whenever a film, book, debut with out diversity of indian culture made it’s way to our society, it gets burned, criticised. From political parties to even bajrang dal can’t keep calm.
    Even families are being a huge trouble spot as our society allows only one type of family- Herero patriarchy, it never allows homosexuality in it.
    And through all of these comes homophobia, which leads to hiding one’s own identity, can’t claim their rights, can’t complaint against assault and so on. In spite of being super modern, we can’t discriminate between gay and effeminate. Though in vedas, Upanishads and even kamasutra says that homosexual man can be effeminate or masculine .
    Media personalities aren’t being effective as it’s another belief that you must be from LGBTQ community if you are talking alongside them.
    To deal with these basic issues means there’s gonna be never-ending debates. In our country we have to fight for the role of our basics – it’s always same for either feminism, gender inequality, Dalit movement or for LGBTQ community.
    If there’s anyone going against the culture then that’s our society, talking through the Victorian era. Indian culture has always accepted diversity and it’ll.

    nehachitroda
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    Society is still not really accepting homosexuality.
    Homosexuality began to be frowned upon when the British Raj banned homosexual relations under sec 377 in 1861.
    While in some cases, Indian society is willing to accept homosexuality in certain groups like professionals in the world of fashion or film. Today being a gay in India can be rejecting by family, groups, society, because some people accept it but not everyone.
    When it comes to parents to bring their kids out their kids out of zone, during that time parents feel ashamed to introduce their kids to others because they are gay or they support the homosexuality.
    On 24 August 2017,India’s supreme court gave the country’s LGBT community the freedom to express their sexual orientation. People feel homosexuality as looked down thing and so dont discuss these topics openly like other and that’s the main reason for homosexuality to be against Indian culture.
    Not everyone are against this,but many are…And people should understand that nothing’s bad or wrong in selecting a same sex person for yourself.
    We live in the 21st century where now,each topic and issues are discussed very openly and so homosexuality is also a wide area to give a thought on .No person or gender can be against a culture,there’s no such things which are with culture or against culture,It’s all about acceptance and thoughts.

    Manpreet Singh
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    Homosexuality in India has been a subject of discussion from ancient times to modern times. Hindu texts have taken positions regarding homosexual characters and themes. The ancient Indian text Kamasutra dedicates a complete chapter on erotic homosexual behavior. On 6 September 2018, a 5-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India invalidated part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, making homosexuality legal in India. While striking down the old law that made gay sex punishable, one of a judge even comented “pave the way for a better future.
    Despite all this, Homophobia is prevalent in Indian society. Public discussion of homosexuality in India has been inhibited as it is still considered taboo. In recent years, however, attitude towards homosexuality has shifted slightly, majorly in an urban setup. There have been more depictions and discussions of homosexuality in the Indian pop culture. Several organizations are supporting homosexuality in India and pushing for tolerance and social equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer people, and others with marginalized identities traditional to India. The change has been great but mental, physical, emotional, and economic violence against the LGBT community in India is still prevalent. They lack support from family, society, or police, as a result, many gay rape victims do not report the crimes.
    The time has come that e should change the mental attitude of the society in India towards the LGBTQ community. As mandated by the supreme court judgment, the government should advertise this judgment more and more through media so that more awareness is caused. Gender sensitization is also a need of hours and should be included in the school curriculum. The police should also be made more sensitive towards them, then only they would be able to use their rights properly. It is a time that our society should take a giant leap towards equality.

    avanti
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    Indian culture and history is long and extremely vast: but it is a culture known to be accepting and inclusive. Homosexuality is considered to be a modern fad, but that is nothing but a misunderstanding. Since 2nd Century in India, there are mentions of the Tritiya Prakriti, or the third sex. This group of people consisted of men and women who were attracted to the same sex and were accepted by society. The Khajuraho Temples, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, all these are testaments to the existence of homosexuality in ancient times. Although homosexuality was not approved, it still existed.

    In the late 17th and 18th century during the British Invasions and Colonization, the Victorian mindset of rigid binary sexual orientations were thrust upon the people of India. Anything other than opposite sex relations were deemed unnatural and ultimately penalized through Section 377.

    In recent times however, India has started realizing that a sexual orientation is not a choice, yet proper education is still lacking. Through the iconic removal of Section 377, India has come a long way in defining clear boundaries between law and culture.

    Anika
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    Homosexuality isn’t supported by most Indian people. They think it’s a sin and that it’s not normal. People of the LGBTQ+ Community are no different from us except that they love and are attracted to people of the same gender. Our country is known to be homophobic with many politicians disagreeing with homosexuality. In my opinion, it’s a human right.
    However, it wasn’t always like this. Thomas Babington Macaulay drafted Section 377 during the British rule. It is thanks to the westernization of Indians that this is still going on. Before, many Indian writers have been writing about same sex love but unfortunately, even after that, homophobia is very much prevalent. I find it strange that we’re considered a backward country because of this by the western countries, but it would be another story if we weren’t under the British rule.
    Hindu texts have many LGBTQ themes. This is not anything new. I do not think Homosexuality is against Indian Culture, but many like to think so. I hope one day people will learn to accept that gay people exist in this world and that’s okay. We should live in a world where everyone is tolerant of each other.

    Semantee Chattopadhyay
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    The strongest opposition to decriminalising homosexuality in India was on the grounds of being it against Indian culture. The Kamasutra mentions physical pleasure in male-male unions in vivid detail. Bhakti saints in mediaeval India effeminized themselves to worship Lord Krishna or Lord Shiva. Many such practices existed but weren’t practised widely. It was also never looked down upon. In ancient India, lines dividing male from female and heterosexuals from homosexuals were blurred. Masculinity and femininity and the only labels that are applied to the body are being occupied by eternal souls. India has stories of Narad falling into a pond and emerging from it as a woman. Another story tells of Shiva bedding in the Yamuna to become a woman and dance with Krishna. In the Kritivas Ramayan, there are stories where two woman makes love to each other. In the Bhagwad Gita Krishna asks Arjuna to not be arrogant. He says that there is much more to the Universe than the human mind can fathom. As there is nothing unnatural in nature and every way if being is the manifestation of the divine.
    So when did it become a crime? It began to be viewed as a criminal offence when Thomas Macaulay introduced section 377 in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Mainly colonialism brought so many changes in India. India’s openness to sexuality became one of the reasons for classifying India as backwards. Every individual has the right to do whatever they want to do with their body. It’s their preference. Homosexuality doesn’t cause any harm to anybody. Some arguments say that it’s not natural as it is not helpful in reproduction. Sexuality is a choice and has nothing to do with reproduction. Everyone doesn’t need to reproduce. Love is love and it can’t be a punishable offence. The LGBTQAI+ community still lags behind all the taboos and social unacceptance. It needs to be addressed until it’s normalised. Homosexual terms like “lesbian”, “gay”, “hijra” are used as cuss words as if it’s something discriminatory against nature. If a person supports LGBTQ rights is seen to be a part of their community but they don’t realise the person could be just an ally. The way India views this community needs to be altered.

    Manpreet Singh
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    Despite the passing of the Navtej Singh Johar judgment in the year 2017, the country has taken a giant leap in terms of improvement of the situation regarding the LGBT community. But the question that remains is whether the judgment has made any powerful impact in the life of the LGBT community? The issue is still looming large and we need to solve it as soon as possible. The judgment, no doubt has created the right path for them, but we still need to do a lot of work in order to provide them equal equality.
    The unique thing about the LGBT issue is that no matter from where they are coming from, it can be a rural area or urban area, they are facing an equal amount of discrimination in the society or at the home. The main issue that remains is that we have not had enough awareness regarding this issue even after the passing of the judgment. The judgment has mandated to the government that they should do the large-scale awareness as much as possible with this issue. But nothing concrete has been done till now. People are still misguided and have wrong stereotypes attached to this community. They are still seen as some Immoral beings and are given and unequal treatment. The situation with the transgender community is very bad, no doubt a law was passed in the favor, but it has many unconstitutional provisions which would not stand the test of article 14. Also, the issue of same-sex marriage has not been actively taken by our government despite many did applications are being filed in Supreme Court. The police are still misusing old provisions which have been decriminalized, due to lack of education the LGBT community is still being harassed by the authorities.
    So what can we really do in order to make their life as equal as possible? We have to make society understand that the old social norms do not stand the test of time anymore and we had to move forward with the times. The whole concept of binary gender has to be removed and from very early the children’s should be made to learn about different genders that have emerged under the umbrella. We have to make power authority more gender-sensitive in order to deal with their issues. Also, the parents need to be more supportive with the children when they come out with open regarding their orientation.

    simran arora
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    One may not know this, but homosexuality was never prohibited in Ancient India. The love of the same sex was equally accepted as heterosexual love with no judgments. However, things changed when the British came as they took a step against homosexuality. Thereby, homosexuality is not against Indian culture. But as British brainwashed the love of the same sex as something filthy, dirty, and unnatural.

    In the ancient Indian texts, Rigveda, one of the sacred texts of Hinduism, mentions that any unnatural way of life is also natural. This symbolizes that the concept of homosexuality was not an abolished idea back then. Also, the text, Kamasutra, entitles a complete chapter on homosexuality.

    After almost one and a half centuries, the acceptance of homosexuality is a difficult thing to do. It could be because of gender bias and also sex bias. Irrespective of being a girl or a boy, if one identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, then it is a problem in most countries. Lately, the Indian constitution decriminalized section 377, yet the judgment still follows.

    In the end, I would say that homosexuality is not against Indian culture. But it is the citizens who ignore the historical facts and make decisions as per their availability or understanding. If one witnesses the sculptures and the artifacts by Indian artists before the 18th century, they would see that homosexuality was acceptable, and no one questioned the choice. The lack of awareness of homosexuality has been causing barriers in the culture leading to biased behavior and non-acceptance of such a way of life.

    Hence, that one decision of the British changed the situation in India, leading to people thinking that it is against the Indian culture. Whereas it is as much a part of Indian history as the heterosexual lifestyle.

    Yash Tiwari
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    The legal landscape for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in India has evolved rapidly in a short period. In 2012 the Supreme Court of India issued a landmark decision invalidating a colonial-era law, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalized homosexuality. The 2013 decision was applauded as a historic win for gay rights by activists around the world, and it became one of the first major successes of the fledgling grassroots movement to expand LGBT rights in India. In the last few decades, many developed countries have moved away from criminalization and toward embracing homosexuality. In 1994, Denmark became the first country in the world to recognize same-sex unions. Countries like United States, Canada, Argentina, France, and others not only do not consider homosexuality as a crime but also grant rights and responsibilities for gay couples.

    Today, when you realize that homosexuality is genetic and we never had a problem with it in our culture and tradition, you look back to other centuries, there are no references of discrimination about homosexuality. Why is it a problem now? The answers to these questions may answer why “the sexual preferences of people” should be a subject of legislation?

    In India, the pre-colonial era does not refer to a single identifiable period. It is a rather vague term that refers to the time when India was not ruled by Europeans. The logic behind this is that India is an ancient civilization and the pre-colonial era is far before the European rulers came. To understand this attitude, one must first analyze how India’s history has had an influence and effect on its culture today. There has been the constant influence of Hinduism, the predominant religion in India, on its culture that today are the rules that Indian culture walks by.

    Homosexuality has been a part of Indian culture. The term “third gender” is an umbrella term that encapsulates a whole range of sexual identities and behaviors that have long been part of the fabric of India’s pluralistic society. Same-sex relationships have been documented in India since antiquity and were never considered to be subversive or treated as illegal in ancient texts. Homosexuality is not a mental disorder and the LGBT community needs no medical intervention as such. Homosexuality is a normal variant of human sexuality much like heterosexuality, bisexuality, and abnormal sexual behaviors. It is not a disease and does not require any treatment.
    It is because of the ingrained values of Indian culture that the members of this community still face a lot of unreasoned oppression, bullying, and suicide attempts. I find it difficult to understand what gives them the right to imprison people for things they were born with. Society needs to accept everyone with open arms and provide them with equal rights to live with dignity. Being in someone else’s shoes means having empathy about their feelings and struggle.

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