Indian Attitudes Towards Homosexuality

chillibreeze writer — Shreya Sanghani

Sexuality in India has been, for very long, a taboo issue. This has several implications – important concepts such as sex education, sexual abuse, openness to alternative sexuality and other sexuality related topics have not been given adequate representation in mainstream culture. Thus, a kind of conspiracy of silence, ignorance and indifference shrouds these issue. India’s attitude to sexuality has been, for the most part, hypocritical.

I will not go into the typical line of argument, citing Khajuraho and the Kama sutra as examples – these have been overdone to the point of being complete clichés and still haven’t really moved Indian society at large in any single way. The family structure and patriarchy still rule the way Indians look at sexuality. Although countless children are being made victims of sexual abuse and incest in their very homes, we look at films which openly depict sexual relationships between a man and a woman – never a homosexual relationship, mind you. For homosexuality the cinematic depiction largely reflects the mainstream attitude – that of ridicule and ribald humor.

This cycle of patriarchy also affects how men and women are viewed in terms of sexuality; a woman who enjoys her sex life is considered to be of questionable moral fiber while a man who is very promiscuous is considered very normal. This is an insult to both men and women in general – one is restricted from exploring her sexuality while the other is represented as a sex crazed beast. In a nutshell, this is the view that India takes of sexuality. In this social milieu, how then would homosexuality be viewed? Logically, it would be criminalized. Which, in India, under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, it is.

While there is no law against the sexual abuse of a child in India, homosexuality is considered “unnatural” and is thus criminalized. A man who sexually abuses his own daughter will probably never be caught in India, but a homosexual man or woman courageous enough to be open about his or her sexual orientation will be socially ostracized, and face a lot of undeserved stigma. It is about time we grew up and changed the laws, and also made some new ones which focus on crime, and not the restriction of the freedom to live your life the way you want to.

This basic human trait does not exist in our ruthlessly technical laws which deem homosexuality “unnatural”. LGBT – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender – groups need to be given the equality and respect they deserve, instead of being branded as criminals. To those who think this is a ridiculous concept, imagine being hated and cut off for just being yourself – being stifled, being marginalized, and being rejected again and again.

Alternate sexuality is a concept that should be understood and embraced. Just because we do things a certain way does not mean that it has to be universally correct. There are cultures in the world where different words don’t even exist for “male” and “female”, others where a woman and a man have opposite roles from what we are used to seeing here in India, and still others where a woman is not just encouraged, she is expected to go to work and earn for herself by the family and the society at large. India needs to stop being narrow-minded and step out of the gender role socialization that we put our kids through as they are growing up. For this the family structure and patriarchy are to blame to a very large extent. A girl does not know that she is supposed to like pink when she is born, and a boy doesn’t know that he’s supposed to be tough and macho in his mother’s womb. All these are social concepts – where is the “naturalness” in them? Just because our ancestors have been doing something for centuries, and because nobody has questioned these antiquated notions before, do we have to do the same and repeat the cycle?

If you support the criminalization of homosexuality, you are responsible for a great wrong done against your fellow citizens. For the misery of the homosexual man who was forced to marry a woman and for the homosexual woman who craves a female partner like straight people crave partners of the opposite sex but has a husband and children to contend with instead. For those brave homosexual people who have embraced their sexuality and are now being punished and branded “unnatural” for their courage. Our laws are definitely too outdated and unfair, and need to change at once.

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.

Out of 5 “chilies”, our editorial team gave this article...

—About our writer:

Shreya says, "I'm an 18 year old writer, who loves the arts in their various manifestations. I'm always looking for new things to experience, as a result of which I hold several jobs similtaneously at any given time: I have been a teacher, creative writer, a project manager for a website building company, an intern at an arts organization. That said, I'll always primarily be a passionate writer, beyond everything else."

>> Read more articles written by Chillibreeze writers:

More resources for Writers on Chillibreeze.com

Chillibreeze offers Indian writers the opportunity to work on customer projects. We are also India’s biggest writer network and a one-stop shop for Indian writers and editors. The writers’ section on Chillibreeze offers freelance writers and editors a variety of tools to advance their careers. Resources for writers include:

Assessment of your writing, editing and proofreading skills

Writing courses

Expert Feedback on your article

An opportunity to promote yourself on our website

Top websites for Indian writers

Tips and resources for Indian freelancers

Book Publishing services

And more………………..

Explore our writers’ section using the links on our left-hand side menu.