.
Very little is known about the practice of homosexuality in contemporary India. According to Ashok Row-Kavi, a self-acclaimed homosexual activist, the number of exclusively or predominantly homosexual men in India may be over 50 million.
A vast majority of them are married and living with their wives, reflecting the cultural situation in South Asian countries, which obliges all men and women to marry members of the opposite sex, whatever may be their sexual orientation. The most common locations of the first homosexual experience in both regions were parks and toilets. Relatives, mostly male cousins and uncles, were the second most common category of first homosexual partners, strangers being the most common category. Mutual masturbation was mentioned as the most common type of homosexual act.
Strong prejudices against homosexuality in India, enhanced by the popular misconception that it is at least partly responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS in India, and the awareness among some Indian homosexual activists that the government should not continue to ignore homosexuals' needs in its AIDS prevention programs, prompted them to organize homosexuals in formal groups for social and political purposes. The Government of India has already recognized the need for intervention programs among homosexuals and has taken the initiative to collect information necessary for the purpose.
Very little is known about the practice of homosexuality in contemporary India. According to Ashok Row-Kavi, a self-acclaimed homosexual activist, the number of exclusively or predominantly homosexual men in India may be over 50 million.
A vast majority of them are married and living with their wives, reflecting the cultural situation in South Asian countries, which obliges all men and women to marry members of the opposite sex, whatever may be their sexual orientation. The most common locations of the first homosexual experience in both regions were parks and toilets. Relatives, mostly male cousins and uncles, were the second most common category of first homosexual partners, strangers being the most common category. Mutual masturbation was mentioned as the most common type of homosexual act.
Strong prejudices against homosexuality in India, enhanced by the popular misconception that it is at least partly responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS in India, and the awareness among some Indian homosexual activists that the government should not continue to ignore homosexuals' needs in its AIDS prevention programs, prompted them to organize homosexuals in formal groups for social and political purposes. The Government of India has already recognized the need for intervention programs among homosexuals and has taken the initiative to collect information necessary for the purpose.
Devinder Mohan Thappa, Nidhi Singh, Sowmya Kaimal (ijstd.org, 12/2008)
.
.
The risks of being gay in India are high: gay men are blackmailed and sometimes driven to ruin, despair, and even suicide, the result of trying to claim some personal space in a still deeply traditional culture where parents make agreements about their childrens’ marriages, sometimes years in advance, and where, population pressure notwithstanding, a premium is still placed upon procreation.
But as the country, emerging as a new economic superpower, continues to modernize, Western ideas are gradually (and sometimes not so gradually) taking hold. Arranged marriages are not as common as they once were; younger Indians are starting to marry for love... and same-sex couples are beginning to wonder when they might assert the same privilege.
The Hindustan Times article related how Hemant Shah stepped out to go to a gay event in late 2007, a decision made despite his fears of being found out and subjected to the horrors that gays still face in India.
But now, Shah wouldn’t change anything about his choices: "If courage hadn’t prevailed over my apprehensions, I would have never met Rohan," Shah said about his partner, Rohan Hindujah.
"The first thing I noticed was his fluffy curly hair," recollected Shah in the article.
For the couple, civil rights may still lay outside their grasp--just last year, the Indian high court declined to decriminalize consensual same-sex intimacy--but Valentine’s Day is their holiday, too.
Said Hinduja of the couple’s first Feb. 14, "Last Valentine’s, he made me a book in which he expressed his want to spend his life with me."
And while the popular image of Indian families is one of rigid gender roles and patriarchal authority, Hindujah’s own family, especially his m other, have accepted their son’s true sexuality with grace.
Indeed, said Shah of Hindujah’s mother, "it was she who suggested we switch to a more affordable phone deal because of the huge bills we were running up."
Added Hindujah,"I was aware of my sexuality very early but she has been incredible.
"Not only has she accepted me but has also sparked off a wonderful relationship with Hemant."
Shah has not been so lucky with his own family--at least, not as yet.
In a country where change is coming slowly, the ten years that Vishal Damani and Ajay Kher have spent together makes them trailblazers of a sort.
Kher, 28, was quoted in the Hindustan Times article as saying, "I was insecure in the relationship when we started off, but no longer.
"We have plenty of disagreements but just as many common interests."
That’s been true from the start: said Damani, "He was too young" when the pair first met.
"I had deep reservations about that so I kept withdrawing from the relationship.
"Ajay was the one who kept pursuing me over coffee and dinner and now we’re at 10 [years]."
One commonality that binds the men: they are still working to see their relationship and those of other gays in India decriminalized. Consensual adult sex between members of the same gender can carry steep penalties, including years of jail time, in India even today.
Said Damani, "We’re still fighting the basic laws.
"Only married couples in the city can avail of joint housing loans.
"Lots of same sex couples want to live together. But our concern is that if one partner passes away then there’s no guarantee the other partner can claim the home."
The men have fearlessly taken their message, and their example, to the masses, the article said.
"Vishal and I visited colleges outside Mumbai and spoke to the youth about our sexuality" one Valentine’s Day years ago, said Kher.
"We talked to them about a different kind of love."
The risks of being gay in India are high: gay men are blackmailed and sometimes driven to ruin, despair, and even suicide, the result of trying to claim some personal space in a still deeply traditional culture where parents make agreements about their childrens’ marriages, sometimes years in advance, and where, population pressure notwithstanding, a premium is still placed upon procreation.
But as the country, emerging as a new economic superpower, continues to modernize, Western ideas are gradually (and sometimes not so gradually) taking hold. Arranged marriages are not as common as they once were; younger Indians are starting to marry for love... and same-sex couples are beginning to wonder when they might assert the same privilege.
The Hindustan Times article related how Hemant Shah stepped out to go to a gay event in late 2007, a decision made despite his fears of being found out and subjected to the horrors that gays still face in India.
But now, Shah wouldn’t change anything about his choices: "If courage hadn’t prevailed over my apprehensions, I would have never met Rohan," Shah said about his partner, Rohan Hindujah.
"The first thing I noticed was his fluffy curly hair," recollected Shah in the article.
For the couple, civil rights may still lay outside their grasp--just last year, the Indian high court declined to decriminalize consensual same-sex intimacy--but Valentine’s Day is their holiday, too.
Said Hinduja of the couple’s first Feb. 14, "Last Valentine’s, he made me a book in which he expressed his want to spend his life with me."
And while the popular image of Indian families is one of rigid gender roles and patriarchal authority, Hindujah’s own family, especially his m other, have accepted their son’s true sexuality with grace.
Indeed, said Shah of Hindujah’s mother, "it was she who suggested we switch to a more affordable phone deal because of the huge bills we were running up."
Added Hindujah,"I was aware of my sexuality very early but she has been incredible.
"Not only has she accepted me but has also sparked off a wonderful relationship with Hemant."
Shah has not been so lucky with his own family--at least, not as yet.
In a country where change is coming slowly, the ten years that Vishal Damani and Ajay Kher have spent together makes them trailblazers of a sort.
Kher, 28, was quoted in the Hindustan Times article as saying, "I was insecure in the relationship when we started off, but no longer.
"We have plenty of disagreements but just as many common interests."
That’s been true from the start: said Damani, "He was too young" when the pair first met.
"I had deep reservations about that so I kept withdrawing from the relationship.
"Ajay was the one who kept pursuing me over coffee and dinner and now we’re at 10 [years]."
One commonality that binds the men: they are still working to see their relationship and those of other gays in India decriminalized. Consensual adult sex between members of the same gender can carry steep penalties, including years of jail time, in India even today.
Said Damani, "We’re still fighting the basic laws.
"Only married couples in the city can avail of joint housing loans.
"Lots of same sex couples want to live together. But our concern is that if one partner passes away then there’s no guarantee the other partner can claim the home."
The men have fearlessly taken their message, and their example, to the masses, the article said.
"Vishal and I visited colleges outside Mumbai and spoke to the youth about our sexuality" one Valentine’s Day years ago, said Kher.
"We talked to them about a different kind of love."
by Kilian Melloy (EDGE, 13/2/2009)
Homosexuality in India
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήDevinder Mohan Thappa, Nidhi Singh, Sowmya Kaimal
Department of Dermatology and STD, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER),
Homosexuality - Problem of identification
Homosexuality can be described as the orientation and inclination of a person to have sexual relations with a person of his or her own sex. [1] It is difficult, however, to identify a person as a homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual because the behavioral expression of the sexual inclination of a person may take a multitude of forms and may change in their life cycle. This is why in their analysis of sexual behavior data of white males and females in the USA, Kinsey et al . [2],[3] developed a six-point scale to identify a person's position in the heterosexual-homosexual scale, from his or her history of sexual behavior. Because of the lack of any such behavioral survey data, such identification is not possible for the Indian population. In India people are commonly identified as homosexuals if they have experienced, as adults, any kind of explicit sexual act with any person of their own sex.
Male homosexuality and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
The clustering of AIDS cases among male homosexuals in the initial phase of the HIV epidemic in the USA and a few other Western countries led to a misleading notion that the disease afflicted only "reckless" male homosexuals and it was often referred to as the "gay plague" or "gay cancer", "gay" being the current vogue word for homosexuals. [1] Recent studies have shown that HIV is spreading everywhere, more through heterosexual relations than through any other mode of transmission. It is, however, true that the risk of HIV infection is greater for persons who practice anal intercourse and this type of intercourse is more common between homosexual partners than between heterosexual partners.
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Historical evidence of homosexuality in India
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήVatsayana's Kamasutra (written between the first and the fourth century AD) refers to the practice of eunuchs and male servants giving oral sex to their male patrons and masters respectively. [1] Some erotic sculptures of medieval Hindu temples depict lesbian acts. The Muslim rulers in India are reported to have maintained harems of young boys. During the British rule, sodomy (anal intercourse) was made illegal under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, enacted in 1861: this legislation is still in force. Indian homosexual activists think that because of this legal provision, male homosexuals are often subjected to undue harassment and blackmail. [4]
Current situation of homosexuality in India
Very little is known about the practice of homosexuality in contemporary India. According to Ashok Row-Kavi, [5] a self-acclaimed homosexual activist, the number of exclusively or predominantly homosexual men in India may be over 50 million. His estimate is based, however, on the assumption that the prevalence of homosexual behavior is not less than what Kinsey et al . [2],[3] found for white American males in 1938-1947. However, recent surveys, as shown above, have shown that Kinsey et al . [2],[3] overestimated the number of homosexuals in the USA.
A vast majority of them are married and living with their wives, reflecting the cultural situation in South Asian countries, which obliges all men and women to marry members of the opposite sex, whatever may be their sexual orientation. [1] The most common locations of the first homosexual experience in both regions were parks and toilets. Relatives, mostly male cousins and uncles, were the second most common category of first homosexual partners, strangers being the most common category. Mutual masturbation was mentioned as the most common type of homosexual act.
Strong prejudices against homosexuality in India, enhanced by the popular misconception that it is at least partly responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS in India, and the awareness among some Indian homosexual activists that the government should not continue to ignore homosexuals' needs in its AIDS prevention programs, prompted them to organize homosexuals in formal groups for social and political purposes. [1] The Government of India has already recognized the need for intervention programs among homosexuals and has taken the initiative to collect information necessary for the purpose.
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Hijras and male prostitutes
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήA culturally identifiable group known by the Urdu term "hijra" lives in most parts of India and are known to depend, at least partly, for their livelihood on working as male prostitutes. Most hijras are castrated males and dress as females. A few are hermaphrodites that are born with ambiguously male-like genitals. [1] As devotees of the Mother Goddess "Bahuchara Mata", their sacred powers are contingent upon their asexuality. In reality, however, many hijras are prostitutes. This sexual activity undermines their culturally valued sacred role.
They adopt female dress and some other aspects of female behavior. Hijras traditionally earn their living by collecting alms and receiving payment for performances at weddings, births, and festivals. [1],[6] The central feature of their culture is their devotion to Bahuchara Mata, one of the many Mother Goddesses worshipped all over India, for whom emasculation is carried out. The hijras are commonly believed, by the larger society, to be intersexed impotent men, who undergo emasculation in which all or part of the genitals are removed. The castration operation is usually performed by a hijra called a dai-ma crudely and under insanitary conditions. It is legally punishable, but reported to be performed secretly in large numbers. This identification with the Mother Goddess is the source of the hijras' claim for both their special place in Indian society and the traditional belief in their power to curse or confer blessings on male infants.
Hijras live predominantly in the cities of North India, where they find the greatest opportunity to perform their traditional roles, but small groups of hijras are found all over India, in the south as well as the north. Seven "houses," or subgroups, comprise the hijra community; each of these has a guru or leader, all of whom live in Bombay. [6] The houses have equal status, but one, Laskarwallah, has the special function of mediating disputes which arise among the others. Each house has its own history, as well as rules particular to it. For example, members of a particular house are not allowed to wear certain colors. Hijra houses appear to be patterned after the gharanas (literally, houses), or family lineages among classical musicians, each of which is identified with its own particular musical style. Though the culturally distinct features of the hijra houses have almost vanished, the structural feature remains.
The most significant relationship in the hijra community is that of the guru (master, teacher) and chela (disciple). [6] When an individual decides to (formally) join the hijra community, he is taken to Bombay to visit one of the seven major gurus, usually the guru of the person who has brought him there. At the initiation ritual, the guru gives the novice a new, female name. The novice vows to obey the guru and the rules of the community. The guru then presents the new chela with some gifts. The chela, or more likely, someone on her behalf, pays an initiation fee and the guru writes the chela's name in her record book. This guru-chela relationship is a lifelong bond of reciprocity in which the guru is obligated to help the chela and the chela is obligated to be loyal and obedient to the guru.
Hijras live together in communes generally of about 5 to 15 members, and the heads of these local groups are also called guru. [6] Hijras make no distinctions within their community based on caste origin or religion, although in some parts of India, Gujarat, for example, Muslim and Hindu hijras reportedly live apart. In Bombay, Delhi, Chandigarh and Bangalore, hijras of Muslim, Christian, and Hindu origin live in the same houses.
In addition to the hierarchical guru-chela relationship, there is fictive kinship by which hijras relate to each other. [6] Rituals exist for "taking a daughter" and the "daughters" of one "mother" consider themselves "sisters" and relate on a reciprocal, affectionate basis. Other fictive kinship relations, such as "grandmother" or "mother's sister" (aunt) are the basis of warm and reciprocal regard. Fictive kin exchange small amounts of money, clothing, jewelry, and sweets to formalize their relationship. Such relationships connect hijras all over India, and there is a constant movement of individuals who visit their gurus and fictive kin in different cities. Various annual gatherings, both religious and secular, attract thousands of hijras from all over India."
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήWays of life of hijras
Traditionally, hijras earn their livelihood by receiving payment for their musical performance at homes on occasions of male childbirth, weddings, and other festivals, as well as by begging. [1] Because of their special identification with the Hindu god Shiva and the mother goddess Bahuchara Mata, they are believed by many to have the power to confer prosperity and health on newborn babies and newly wed couples and also the power to do harm to them. With the erosion of such beliefs in contemporary India, hijras are reported to increasingly engage themselves as male prostitutes.
Hijras live in all parts of India, but they concentrate more in north Indian cities where they have greater opportunities to earn their living by performing their traditional role as household performers on festive occasions. [1] The total population of hijras in India is not known, as in censuses many of them report themselves as female. The unofficial estimate of their population in India varies from 50,000 to 500,000. There are myths and folklore associating Bahuchara Mata, the major object of the hijra devotions, with transvestism and transsexuality.
Sexual practices of hijras
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήHijras in India, in addition to earning their livelihood as performers, engage themselves in sexual activity with men for money or for satisfying their own homosexual desires, as long as they are physically attractive or capable of doing so. [1] There are also nineteenth century reports of kidnapping of small boys by hijras for the purpose of sodomy or prostitution. Most hijras seem to engage in casual prostitution by offering sexual favors to men in exchange for money. Some others, particularly those with strong feminine identity, are involved in relatively long-term relationships with men who may be known as their "husbands". Having a "husband" in an economically reciprocal and emotionally satisfying relationship is a preferred alternative for those hijras who openly engage themselves in sexual relations with men.
Almost nothing is known about the sexual techniques hijras practice or are asked to practice when they perform the role of a prostitute. [1] It is very likely that they are often passive partners in anal intercourse, without the use of condoms, thus making themselves highly vulnerable to HIV and other STD infections.
Male prostitutes
In addition to a large section of the hijra community, there are many full-time or part-time male prostitutes in India. [1] Some of them live in red-light areas of metropolitan cities; many seek male clients by offering massage services in parks, beaches, hotels, and houses. Thousands of homeless and poor boys and young men employed in various establishments and firms are compelled to provide sexual services to their male bosses in return for their job security. Young men who work as helpers to highway truck drivers in their long trips provide such services.
Male prostitution is increasingly visible in India. [7] In Delhi there are as many as twenty "agencies" offering "handsome masseurs" in the classifieds of newspapers (Hindustan Times). They offer both in and out services, although the facilities are usually very basic. Most western clients are visited at their hotels. Local middle class Indians are also now using these services. Fees are discussed over the phone, typically 1000-3000 Rupees.
References
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφή1. Nag M. Sexual behavior in India with risk of HIV/AIDS transmission. Health Trans Rev 1995;5:293-305.
2. Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WB, Martin CE. Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 1948.
3. Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WB, Martin CE, Gebhard PH. Sexual behavior in the human female. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 1953.
4. AIDS Bhedhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA). Less than Gay: A Citizens' report on the status of homosexuality in India. New Delhi, 1991.
5. Row-Kavi A. HIV/AIDS awareness in the self-identified gay community and its implications. Paper presented at Workshop on Sexual Aspects of AIDS/STD Prevention in India, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay, 23-26 November, 1993.
6. Nanda S. The Hijras of India: Cultural and individual dimensions of an institutionalized third gender role. In: Blackwood E, editor, Anthropology and homosexual behavior. Binghampton: Haworth Press; 1985. p. 35-54.
7. Prostitution. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution. Last accessed on December 10, 2008
Homosexuality In India
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήBy Namit Arora
19 August, 2008
Countercurrents.org
"We don't have any," is the classic Indian response to homosexuality in India. Curiously, Indians say this even when they know of and tolerate homosexual acts in their communities. What's behind this seemingly contradictory stance? For the answer, we need to examine the social construct of sexuality in India.
As a boy in India, I often heard rumors of "buggering" being commonplace in elite boarding schools for boys. This was partly spoken of as a passing phase of rakishness and fun, the subtext being: they'll discover what real sex is when they grow up. In their lucid new book, The Indians, Sudhir and Katherina Kakar recount a story about Ashok Row Kavi, a well-known Indian gay activist. Apparently when Ashok was young and being pressured to marry by his family, especially by his aunt, he finally burst out that he liked to fuck men. "I don't care whether you fuck crocodiles or elephants," the aunt snapped back. "Why can't you marry?"
As in many other societies, procreation also underpins the Indian sense of social (and familial) order. Any threat to this social order is instinctively resisted, though the resistance takes many forms. In the Christian West, homosexual acts were persecuted as a sin against God (and less often, seen as a disease). Indians, on the other hand, denied the idea of homosexuality, while tolerating homosexual acts—a trick made possible by regarding these acts not as sex but as a kind of erotic fun, or masti. Sex is only what happens in the context of procreation, usually within marriage. Sex is what makes babies, and truly virile men, of course, produce male babies.
It is no surprise then, that the notion of a homosexual liaison as an equal alternate to a heterosexual one doesn't exist outside a small set of urban Indians; that would threaten the social order. Instead, the Indian response is: As long as men fulfill their traditional obligations to family and progeny, their homosexual acts are (uneasily) tolerated. Notably, according to the Kakars, the vast majority of even those who continue having sex with other men do not see themselves as homosexual. "Even effeminate men who have a strong desire to receive penetrative sex are likely to consider their role as husbands and fathers to be more important in their self-identification than their homosexual behavior." Lesbian activity is invariably seen as a response to sexually frustrating marriages (as also in Fire, the 1998 movie by Deepa Mehta).
While the Indian response reduces open conflict, the flip side is a muffled suffering: countless men and women lead double lives, hiding from their true natures and denying themselves the most precious of intimacies and self-knowledge. When I was young, one of my aunts filed for divorce just weeks into her marriage; an uncle told me in hushed tones that something was wrong with her husband's "manliness." My aunt was fortunate; far more often the marriage is for ever, and is even given full marks for a happy normalcy if a child is somehow produced.
Of course, every so often a homosexual couple openly flouts convention and declares their love for each other, as in the famous case of two policewomen in MP in the late 80s. Here a uniquely Indian solution has been to see it as "unfinished business" from a previous life, where the two were surely husband and wife, separated and united again by destiny. While this creative interpretation serves to fit "deviant behavior" in a traditional framework, it is not always invoked, resulting more often in disapproval and harassment.
A bit more tolerance of publicly "deviant behavior" does extend to the Hijras, not the least because their cultural status as "the third sex" has made them non-threatening (most are homosexual men who dress as women; some are eunuchs or have ambiguous genitalia) and imbued them with a special power to bless newlyweds and newborn males. Hindu gods and mythic heroes aid their acceptance too: Shiva at times assumes the female form; the goddess Yellamma has the power to change one's sex; Arjuna disguised himself as a eunuch during the Pandava exile.
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήIn ancient India, according to the Kakars, homosexual activity "was ignored or stigmatized as inferior but never actively persecuted." While mild punishment is advocated by some books, "it was the homosexual and not homosexual activity that evoked society's scorn," with homosexuals seen as deficient and objects of "pity, dismay and revulsion" because of their inability to marry and father children, a sense that persists to this day. But the Kamasutra, which reflects elite attitudes of its day, even dwells on homosexual fellatio in sensual terms. Temples at Khajuraho and elsewhere openly depict homosexual acts.
Even after the arrival of Islam (the Qu'ran is hostile to homosexuality), Sufi mystics used homoerotic metaphors to describe their love of God and celebrated homoeroticism in poetry and literature of a "Persianized" Islam. Upper class Muslims got away with pederasty as long as they fulfilled—or pretended to fulfill—their obligations in marriage. It then fell upon the British to make things decidedly worse in the 19th century. The Kakars write:
It is the sodomy aspect of male homosexuality which the British colonial authorities, encased in a virulent, homophobic Victorian morality, latched on to in their draconian legislation of 1861. This law, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, states: "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall be liable to a fine." The law, challenged in the courts by a gay organization and currently awaiting judgment in the Delhi high court, is still on the statute books. Although the law is rarely used to bring transgressors to court, it is regularly availed of by corrupt policemen to harass and blackmail homosexuals in public places.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in India has made notable strides in urban milieus. Hundreds marched in Pride parades this year. But progress simply means progress has been made. Great disparities remain and attitudes in this deeply conservative country are slow to change.
Homosexuality in Contemporary India
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήApr 14, 2009
This article describes the problems and persecution faced by homosexuals in present day India and the movements directed at decriminalising homosexuality. It gives an overview of the Gay Movement in contemporary India.
In a country as diverse as India, there are various sections of the minority population that are fighting for their rights. These include several religious and caste minority groups as well as women’s groups. However, one group which cuts across the social spectrum is the sexual minorities, which in the Indian context generally refer to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, kothis[1] and hijras[2], who have faced punitive discrimination in the country, especially in the 20th century. Culture and existing laws have, to a large extent, aided this discrimination and exploitation. The population located in the social margins in a democracy is always a value-loaded category. This peripheral existence indicates a bitter and long-drawn process of forced decentring, automatic reduction to an inferior position and a compulsion to live under pity at best or absolute contempt at worst.
The condition of sexual minorities in India deteriorated with the import of Western Enlightenment. As Hoshang Merchant, one of the foremost gay poets and critics in India, writes in his Introduction to Yaraana, the first anthology of gay writing from India: “There is no such beast in zoology as a ‘homosexual’. It is an invention of late nineteenth century European science… Such a term does not exist in India where the practice is not codified, only quietly condoned and above all, not talked about…”[3]
Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, in their insightful book on the origins of homosexuality in India Same-Sex Love in India : Readings from Literature and History[4], have unveiled references to homosexual love in several ancient Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist texts and have analysed the history of homosexual behaviour in India. Several stories from texts like The Mahabharata, Panchatantra, Kamasutra, Shiva Purana, Krittivasa Ramayana, The Skanda Purana, and The Baburnama are cited along with various instances from contemporary literature to prove the existence of homosexuality in India over the ages.
Over the past two decades there has been an outburst in the discussion and debates for the rights and recognition of sexual minorities in India and in the UK and US by Indians. The activism around sexual minorities started with the following events: a hijra conference in Bhopal in 1986; the founding of Bombay Dost, a gay magazine, in Bombay in 1990; the establishment of Sakhi, a lesbian collective, in Delhi in 1991[5]. These protracted but significant beginnings have led to the creation of a number of queer groups in various parts of the country, from the major metropolitan centres to smaller towns. The categorization of “men who have sex with men” (MSM) as a group vulnerable to the risk of HIV infection by the National AIDS Control Authority (NACO) has resulted in funding for MSM intervention projects and spurred the development of sexual minority networks. This in turn has allowed for the formation of groups in cities where MSM interventions were taking place and the formation of networks between the groups in various cities[6].
This paper aims to study the relevance of Section 377 in criminalizing the homosexual population in India. Although the activism against Section 377 is common to all the sexual minorities, this paper focuses only on the impact of the law on homosexual populations in India.
Use or Misuse of Section 377:
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήOn July 7, 2001, the police had arrested several people who come under the rubric of “queer” from a park frequented by these communities, in the city of Lucknow. Among the people who had been arrested were activists from the NGO Bharosa (working on safer sex issues). Following this, the offices of Bharosa and Naz Foundation (another NGO working on MSM and safer sex issues) were raided by the police, and cases against these NGOs were filed under Section 377 (unnatural sexual offenses), Section 120B (conspiracy to commit an offense), Section 109 (abetment), and Section 292 (sale of obscene material). The people arrested were released on bail only after they had spent a month and half behind bars.
These arrests made one thing very clear, that homosexuality was considered criminal on the basis of such associated acts like working towards HIV/AIDS awareness (distribution of condoms and awareness pamphlets to homosexual men), the use of the Internet to meet other gay people etc. Several studies[12] focusing on the actual application of Section 377 of the IPC show that most cases that come under it deal with non-consensual and coercive sexual activities. Out of over 50 reported judgments under Section 377 that have been looked at, more than 30 per cent deal with cases of sexual assault or abuse of minors, the rest dealing with non-consensual sexual activities between men and with women. The striking feature of behaviour of the courts with respect to Section 377 is that they do not distinguish between consenting and non-consensual sexual relations. Men who have sexual relations with minors, men who rape other men, and men who consent to sexual activity are all perceived under one umbrella[13].
Human Rights Violation through Section 377 of IPC:
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήIn the final decade of the 20th century, the gay/ lesbian/ bisexual/ transgender movement brought to the fore the rights of those discriminated against because of their sexuality. In 1991, Amnesty International, for the first time, came out with a policy to support the rights of people imprisoned because of their sexual orientation or because of engaging in homosexual activity in private.
Discrimination of homosexuals under Section 377 at present invites questions like how an expression like “unnatural offences” ought to be defined, and also what is “the order of nature” and as conceived by whom? Previously, the order of nature was that sexual acts be performed only for the sake of reproduction. But today it would not be considered “against the order of nature” if heterosexual couples have sex mainly for pleasure. Moreover, empirical evidence easily shows that homosexuality and bisexuality is widespread in Indian society covering a large section of people belonging to different regional, linguistic, and religious backgrounds and social strata[14].
There is no recognition of the rights of sexual minorities; they do not have the right to common property and inheritance or “next of kin” rights in the event of the death of their partner. They don’t enjoy adoption rights either. Homosexual relationships are not recognized when it comes to defining the family for the purposes of insurance claims, compensation under the workman’s compensation act, gratuity benefits and for the purposes of nomination.
Further still, Section 377 has no jurisprudential justification. The Section criminalises a consensual, voluntary sexual act, which does not harm any third party and squarely falls within the scope of individual autonomy. Criminalising homosexuality is clearly and completely antithetical to any principle of individual autonomy. Furthermore, laws of the nature of Section 377 do not merely express societal disapproval; they go much further by creating a criminal class[15]. The situation sounds even more paradoxical when we learn that anti-sodomy laws have been abolished by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (to which India is a signatory)
Conclusion
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήAfter the election of the United Progressive Alliance (a coalition of the Congress and some left-wing parties) to the centre in 2004, there have been hopes that the situation of the sexual minorities might improve. A. Ramadoss, the Union Health Minister speaking at the International AIDS Conference held in Mexico City in August, 2008 said "Section 377 of IPC, which criminalizes men who have sex with men, must go," even at the risk of inviting a political reaction back home[17]. Ramadoss has been supported in his efforts by the Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes. However it needs to be noted that in all these debates regarding legalisation of homosexuality in India, it is the health perspective that is stressed, while identity politics remains sidelined. True liberation of sexual minorities can never be achieved till the state accepts that homosexuals are not deviants, but are as normal as the heterosexual majority and have a separate identity. However it can be expected that identity politics will come to the forefront once laws like Section 377 are scrapped, and homosexuality decriminalised.
[1] Kothi: in the South Asian context, a male homosexual who is feminized and takes a passive/receptive role in sex.
[2] Hijra: a transgender person who is biologically male and takes on the gender role of a female. Hijras in India have their own form of social organization and form a parallel society.
[3] Merchant, Hoshang. Introduction. Yaraana: Gay Writing from India. Ed. Hoshang Merchant.
New Delhi: Penguin, 1999. xi-xxv.
[4] Vanita, Ruth, and Saleem Kidwai. Same-Sex Love in India : Readings from Literature and History. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[5] B. Fernandez (ed.) Humjinsi (India Centre for Human Rights and Law, 2002), pp. 182-183.
[6] Narrain, Arvind, Queer: Despised Sexuality, Law and Social Change, Books for Change, 2004, p 49.
[7] Narrain, Arvind , Queer: Despised Sexuality, Law and Social Change, Books for Change, 2004, p 49.
[8] ibid
[9] One reason the police do not usually arrest people under Section 377 is because the minimum requirement in terms of medical evidence to prove a sexual offence would need the couple to be rushed to a hospital, examination to be conducted of their private parts to record any physical signs indicating that “carnal intercourse” took place. This, however, paves the way for other forms of harassment.
[10]Outing is the process in which the police reveal a person’s bisexuality or homosexuality to his/her family thereby exposing him/her socially.
[11] PUCL-Karnataka, ‘Human rights violations against sexuality minorities in India’, February 2001
[12] Gupta, Alok, ‘The History and Trends in the Application of the Anti-Sodomy Law in the Indian Courts’, Humjinsi: A Resource Book on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Rights in India, India Centre for Human Rights and Law, 2002.
[13] Narrain, Arvind, ‘The Articulation of Rights around Sexuality and Health: Subaltern Queer Cultures in India in the Era of Hindutva’, Health and Human Rights, Vol 7, No 2.
[14] PUCL-Karnataka, Human rights violations against sexuality minorities in India (February 2001)
[15] Sharma, Animesh, Section 377: No Jurisprudential Basis, Economic and Political Weekly, November, 2008
[16] ibid
[17] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Legalise_homosexuality_Ramadoss/articleshow/3342815.cms