“Freaking unbelievable. Absolutely speechless!”
Gay rights activists in India have been posting congratulatory messages on blogs and Twitter ever since the Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled gay sex was not a crime.
human rights.
Some see the ruling as crucial for the country’s battle against HIV/AIDS.
India has the world’s second highest HIV/AIDS caseload and gay advocacy groups say fear of persecution by law enforcement agencies often leaves homosexuals without easy access to health information and preventive care, rendering them more vulnerable to infection.
The gay sex debate and repealing of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that makes “unnatural sex” a punishable offence will have wide- ranging implications in the months to come.
But it’s difficult to predict whether conservative Indians would change their perception of the gay community.
India has traditionally been a study in curious contradictions that are deeply interwoven in its social fabric through centuries. If it is embracing and tolerant of alien customs, it is also proud and conservative of its own.
Visitors to the ancient temples of Khajuraho, built in the 10th century, would find homosexual couples immortalised in its stone carvings.
Yet, in the 21st century, gay men and women in India find it hard to come out of the closet in a society that frowns on public display of affection even among heterosexual couples.
While there rarely has been a conviction under section 377 in the last two decades, gay rights activists say it remains a powerful tool in the hands of the police to harass homosexuals.
It also remains to be seen if the territorial jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court will be extended to encompass homosexuals in all Indian states.
The government’s reaction following the court ruling has been cautious.
Analysts say it would need to take the debate forward without antagonising religious sentiments especially those of Christians and Muslims, who are traditionally opposed to homosexuality.
For now, the court ruling will hold unless challenged in the Supreme Court or replaced by an act of Parliament.
The main debate that remains still is to find a common law that allows constitutional rights to gays having consensual sex without letting off paedophiles and same-sex rapists.
But are Indians ready to accept a same-sex couple moving in next door, gay parents at PTA meetings or at social events?
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48 comments so far
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The government has no business interfering in people’s lives. Homosexuality is just the way people are and they should be allowed to live freely and with all rights awarded to heterosexual couples.
- Posted by TenzinNow what new,it has been for the past centuries,but hidden.Look at the way the humanity is being treated,let all enjoy the way they want.Later it is a known fact that it will diminish slowly to know it never existed.The way how the Europe and other part of the world shakes between,our country would feel shy of this conduct,but what to do,this is our liking.So be it.Anyone revolting would have to go on this one day.
- Posted by T.V.Ramkumarhttp://ibnlive.in.com/news/rahul-gandhi- becomes-the-new-gay-icon/93307-3.html
Is the HC ruling politically motivated and a gift from Rahul Gandhi?
- Posted by LubricationDon’t be an ego-center of the whole universe. Life existed even without sex and will exist even without male-female.Who knows this could be another evolution?
- Posted by KamalStop judging about homos. You have no right to it
People feel vomiting on you having sex with girls. Look at your scriptures and saints what they about your sex.
They feel like vomiting
So should you be banned?
Nature and God is more inventive and may be it is just another step towards meger of man and woman so they can act any they like lol
who knows after all when first moneky jumped down from the tree fellow monkeys did made fun didn’t they?
My dears
- Posted by anilDraupadi had 5 husbands.Would you allow your wife or daughter to have 5 husbands?Krishna had so many wives?so had many kings but now society changes it to one.
What it means is morality is dynamic flux and has nothing to do with spirituality. There are no moralistic laws which can be defined as such. Further it is proved that they are subject to change as per time and space. Hence homosexuality is as simple as hetrosexuality and has nothing to do with morality or spirituality
Read your spiritual books once agin dear, we have had homosexual sects in Hinduism.
Tantra even thosands of years ago had gay cults and they were recognized in mainstream.Go to khajuraho and you will see temples with Gay sculptures.
When you talk of spirituality and four ashrams do you forget God Dattatryea was unmarried or hanuman was unmarried etc and so were thousands of your saints etc
If they were exception it means your four ashrams have exception. Four ashrams merely state the stages and don’t discriminate between homo or hetro marriages. So to put things straight
When you look down with disdain upon west just look around. Have you my dear ever been to west? I have been to west. Sure they are extremly materialistic but the rest of the INDIANS and nation you talk about is no less (probably more) materialistic than them. In fact they are more hungry as they have never tasted materials. They are looking for more materials even more fivorously
Again it looks like people who make comment have prejudices and are not aware of
The law of sex and material seeking applies in the same manner to homo or hetro. There is no end to material seeking but fact is INDIA is seeking materials like anything.
Let us not be hypocrites
The same scriptures that are quoted speak derogatory of woman and sex(So should we ban even hetro marriages,sex and female????)
There is no end to human stupidity were words of albert einstein. Using the wall of spirituality to throw bombs at already discriminated people is horrendous act.
If you are spiritual you must understand you don’t discriminate people based on anything be it sex. The same bible talks of non-judgement
If you are spiritual a human is human and what he does in his bedroom is not your business.
When it becomes your business only when he comes for advice or seeking.
Stop establishing yourself as pretending gurus
Morality or spirituality is accomodative of homo or hetro or any human
Thanks
We are living in the 21-century and its high time that we indians should realize this. Though people are not ready to accept this fact but gradually they will and they have to.nowdays it is not considered a TABOO to speak about it so openly and people do not think about this community in a very pejorative way. SO PEOPLE ARE CHANGING but what they need is some time. I think it is just one of the milestones for them and still A LOT NEEDS TO BE DONE!!! These people are not aliens but simply a chunk of bones and skin just like us. So I would just say “WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!”
- Posted by ollyIs Biasing on the basis of the sexual orientation Correct?
With the magical speech “tryst with the destiny” delivered by Jawahar Lal Nehru our beloved motherland stepped into the new era of freedom. Creators of new India promised to shape our country on fundamentals like sovereignty, equality in each walk of life, democracy etc. After 50 years of independence and so many amendments in the Constitution are we able to erode every type of the biasing form our country? Most of the head will surely beckon no in response to the question. One of these biasing in our society is biasing on the basis of the sexual orientation.
Etymologically word homosexual means having attraction towards the same sex. Main reasons for homosexuality are still not well known but it is widely believed that they depend on genetic causes, harmonic causes and social environment around the subject. Homosexual orientation is an intrinsic factor which can come to any individual in any age. All Paramount psychological institutions like WHO, American psychological societies and Australian psychological societies has already clarified that it is not any kind of psychological disease as the subject can be efficient in all the realms of the life as a heterosexual person. It is already been recognized by most of the countries in the world. Researches done have proved that there is no sure shot method for the conversion of a homosexual person to heterosexual person. The only method available for the reparative therapy which can have devastating side effects like self destruction feelings, sever depressions etc.
In the backdrop of previous paragraph can we still do not want to recognize this sexual orientation? On which ground can we separate such people? If we still don’t want to recognize them then we are acting like a dodo that used to closes its eyes and used to believe poachers are not there. Here ignorance will not be bliss because we recognize it or not it is going to exists there.
Most of the protectors of the faith and religion are making lot of hue and cry on the legalization of the homosexuality. All the faith and religion are will dependent and should be practiced with a self will. They should not be enforced. How they are going to control the feelings of people which is much deep seated. This is like tying water with a rope. Everyone in this world is unique and we should respect their uniqueness. We can’t compare each and every quality of people to the standard prototype defined in their respective religion. Everyone’s emotion can’t be molded in same shape. How are they going to counter this genetic & harmonic difference with belief and faith? Is this not sounding like measuring distance in liters?
Even history proves that it was there across all continents in all ages. Names may vary from law of sodomy to pleasures of the bitten peach. The emotions are like fluid which is having an inherent property of flowing. The shape provided by the container to this fluid will be transient. We should better acknowledge it or it may burgeon in negative direction. We are trying to protect IPC 377 which was created by Britons who themselves have changed the law in their country in 1967.
Most of these gay and lesbian couple prefers to have a child. They do this by adoptions. This can also prove to boon to some of the most ill-fated part of our society. Today we have almost 2 to 10 % of the populations which is homosexual. If you include figures the people who are not particularly homosexual but had an experience or are bisexual. The figures will soak to height of 20%. Do you not want to recognize this big chunk of the society? Will this not undermine the basic vision of our constitution?
-writer is heterosexually inclined
- Posted by sambhrant KumarTo the person who wrote this - did you know that homosexuality exists in 1500 different species of animals on Earth?
“HAVE YOU SEEN A MALE DOG MAKING LOVE WITH ANOTHER MALE DOG….EVEN THE FIVE SENSED ANIMALS ARE GREATER THAN YOU PEOPLES WHO ARE SUPPORTING SUCH KIND ACT… WHAT WILL YOU SAY IF YOUR FATHER IS A GAY…??? WHAT WILL YOU SAY IF YOUR MOTHER IS A LESBIAN…??? TODAY I FEEL REALLY ASHAMED TO BE A INDIAN…”
- Posted by MP