Barely a week has passed by since Section 377 has been repealed and the protests and petitions have already started flooding in. Different religious groups are furious at "going against nature's way" and want the Indian Supreme Court to take back its decision.
On the other hand, newspapers have started reporting the first few gay marriages in India. Quite a stir all around.
But wait. Who said anything about marriage? All that the repealing of Sec. 377 means is that intercourse between same sex couples is now not illegal. (Incidentally, do you know all those 'other' indulgences of yours were also illegal? heh heh!). homosexuals all over India celebrated. But, I really believe that this was only a minor victory for them. The war is yet to be won.
India is a state of contradictions. While our ancient history suggests that we were a very tolerant and broadminded nation, our recent past shows quite the opposite. Everything that was once celebrated, is now either taboo or spoken of behind closed doors. Yes, still. Just because you, me and a few urban friends of ours sit together sipping mojitos and discussing anything under the sun with panache, does not mean that we are the majority.
We still remain an extremely conservative society. With moral police raising hell over women wearing sleeveless shirts and hanging out in pubs, do you really think that gays will be smiled at warmly and accepted easily?
Lets get real. Picture a boy/girl from a regular town in India trying to tell his/her parents about his sexual orientation being different from the expected. We are very very far from the stage where the parents will be accepting. If there are accepting parents that's less than a handful. In a country where parents still threaten suicide if their child wants to marry someone of a different caste, I seriously doubt there'd be a day any time soon when they'd accept their child's same sex preference. More likely force the poor son/daughter to get married soon as of course the Indian parent firmly believes that marriage cures all ills.
Crazily enough, several of my colleagues seem to think that "this whole gay thing is just another example of copying the west". I swear, that was a direct quote to which several guys nodded their heads in agreement. A senior VP of not stands out not for his work but because word leaked out that he's gay!! The snide jokes abound.
I feel happy that the government at least now recognizes that it is not illegal and thereby indicates that it is not an "abnormality", but feel sorry that it is still a very long and hard road to acceptance for all our gay friends out there.
Godspeed.
1 comment:
You know, I've always believed that it'd be a eternally better proposition if all of us simply minded our business instead of imposing our sense of right and wrong on others. Sexual orientation is perhaps one of the most galling areas which bears testimony to the majority thrusting their view of righteousness to those who are "different". Wonder why? Since when has the majority always been correct (in this case, there's simply no question of right and wrong, its just a matter of preference)? God grant 'em sanity... (waiting for that post on school teachings mentioned briefly in Honk Honk...)
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