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Gay In India
Roy Sinai, 07.06.09, 12:15 PM EDT
Roy Sinai, 07.06.09, 12:15 PM EDT
A court in Delhi decriminalizes homosexuality.
"Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high ..." begins a prayer the poet Rabindranath Tagore published in 1910, invoking the almighty to awaken India's collective consciousness into a "heaven of freedom."
With a radical decision last week, the Delhi High Court decriminalized consensual sex between homosexual adults and swept away a threat that hangs over every Indian who, in the privacy of his or her own bedroom, might engage in sexual activity "against the order of nature."
And by linking its ruling to each citizen's fundamental right to freedom and protection from discrimination, the court's verdict rose above the fray of the culture wars around the issue of sexuality in this predominantly orthodox and religiously conservative country.
Over the 149 years of its existence, the infamous (if rarely enforced) Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has remained a psychological threat to India's sexual minorities. It has resulted in countless instances of misery and harassment, and spawned a thriving blackmail industry.
The psychology of fear that the law begat, by its mere existence, has been lifted with the court's ruling that it is unconstitutional. In that alone, a great wrong has been righted. For the millions of gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities in India--and with the country's population of 1.3 billion, we are talking many, many millions--to be able to hold their head high and be who they are, equal before the law, is both a huge psychological boost and an affirmation of their human dignity.
For urban, middle-class homosexuals, being gay in India is akin to being gay in the U.S. in the 1950s. The condition of homosexuals in small towns and rural India is far worse. Most gays in India remain in the closet for cultural and social reasons, irrespective of the law; many still feel that the Delhi court's ruling will not really impact their day-to-day lives as long as social stigmas remain.
I don't know the non-pejorative word for homosexual in Hindi, but "gandu"--the equivalent of bugger--and the word "homo" are routinely used colloquially as put downs and abuse. Many families have "the gay uncle" who "nobody talks about," a semi-visible personage in the family pantheon.
This "don't ask, don't tell" kind of blindness has only further emasculated the image of the gay person by making him invisible. It is not surprising that the law has remained untouched all these years after independence, undisturbed by any political will, cocooned by a culture that turned a blind eye.
A noisy debate is underway, and the media is revving up to cover a grand culture war. The religious groups have been vocal, but recent statements from an archbishop and a senior mullah have restricted themselves to morality and sin--underlining an appropriate separation between church and state. Predictably, they reiterate that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God, but also that every sin is not a crime. However, the media storm has brought a number of anti-gay prejudices and beliefs from ordinary people to the fore--revealing the warped images people have of what it means to be gay, fed largely by stereotypical Bollywood portrayals of them as effeminate objects of ridicule.
Coupled with religious orthodoxy, the risk of a prejudiced majority bullying a minority out of its rights runs high when emotions and feelings are aroused from moral outrage. Gay activist groups, which have been at the forefront of the fight for repeal of the law, are being careful not to fall into the trap.
It is critical that they keep the framework of the debate where the court has pegged it--as an issue of fundamental rights--and thereby address our changing consciousness and society.
The real opportunity for the gay community in India now, after a favorable court ruling, is to concertedly address these social stigmas. It must also strive to make itself more visible--not in any stereotypical way, but by presenting itself to the public eye as it is, or rather, as it emerges.
As more people come out of the closet, if only to strengthen the court's ruling by standing up and being counted, we also will be acknowledging a reality we have always known. Deep-rooted cultural prejudices do take time to transform, but in this increasingly networked world, ideas--and the dreams they inspire--can move across countries, castes and creeds.
Let us not forget that 60% of India's population is under the age of 25. The decriminalization of homosexuality is going to impact them as they come of age, develop their increasingly individualistic identities and make choices about how they wish to live. This newly empowered generation of citizens is concerned with securing economic prosperity by engaging with each other, and the rest of the world, in a culture of tolerance and respect.Is this heaven? Far from it. But India, surely, has taken a giant step away from hell.
Roy Sinai is a photographer. He lives in Bangalore, India.
Gay In India - Forbes.com
Roy Sinai, 07.06.09, 12:15 PM EDT
Roy Sinai, 07.06.09, 12:15 PM EDT
A court in Delhi decriminalizes homosexuality.
"Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high ..." begins a prayer the poet Rabindranath Tagore published in 1910, invoking the almighty to awaken India's collective consciousness into a "heaven of freedom."
With a radical decision last week, the Delhi High Court decriminalized consensual sex between homosexual adults and swept away a threat that hangs over every Indian who, in the privacy of his or her own bedroom, might engage in sexual activity "against the order of nature."
And by linking its ruling to each citizen's fundamental right to freedom and protection from discrimination, the court's verdict rose above the fray of the culture wars around the issue of sexuality in this predominantly orthodox and religiously conservative country.
Over the 149 years of its existence, the infamous (if rarely enforced) Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has remained a psychological threat to India's sexual minorities. It has resulted in countless instances of misery and harassment, and spawned a thriving blackmail industry.
The psychology of fear that the law begat, by its mere existence, has been lifted with the court's ruling that it is unconstitutional. In that alone, a great wrong has been righted. For the millions of gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities in India--and with the country's population of 1.3 billion, we are talking many, many millions--to be able to hold their head high and be who they are, equal before the law, is both a huge psychological boost and an affirmation of their human dignity.
For urban, middle-class homosexuals, being gay in India is akin to being gay in the U.S. in the 1950s. The condition of homosexuals in small towns and rural India is far worse. Most gays in India remain in the closet for cultural and social reasons, irrespective of the law; many still feel that the Delhi court's ruling will not really impact their day-to-day lives as long as social stigmas remain.
I don't know the non-pejorative word for homosexual in Hindi, but "gandu"--the equivalent of bugger--and the word "homo" are routinely used colloquially as put downs and abuse. Many families have "the gay uncle" who "nobody talks about," a semi-visible personage in the family pantheon.
This "don't ask, don't tell" kind of blindness has only further emasculated the image of the gay person by making him invisible. It is not surprising that the law has remained untouched all these years after independence, undisturbed by any political will, cocooned by a culture that turned a blind eye.
A noisy debate is underway, and the media is revving up to cover a grand culture war. The religious groups have been vocal, but recent statements from an archbishop and a senior mullah have restricted themselves to morality and sin--underlining an appropriate separation between church and state. Predictably, they reiterate that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God, but also that every sin is not a crime. However, the media storm has brought a number of anti-gay prejudices and beliefs from ordinary people to the fore--revealing the warped images people have of what it means to be gay, fed largely by stereotypical Bollywood portrayals of them as effeminate objects of ridicule.
Coupled with religious orthodoxy, the risk of a prejudiced majority bullying a minority out of its rights runs high when emotions and feelings are aroused from moral outrage. Gay activist groups, which have been at the forefront of the fight for repeal of the law, are being careful not to fall into the trap.
It is critical that they keep the framework of the debate where the court has pegged it--as an issue of fundamental rights--and thereby address our changing consciousness and society.
The real opportunity for the gay community in India now, after a favorable court ruling, is to concertedly address these social stigmas. It must also strive to make itself more visible--not in any stereotypical way, but by presenting itself to the public eye as it is, or rather, as it emerges.
As more people come out of the closet, if only to strengthen the court's ruling by standing up and being counted, we also will be acknowledging a reality we have always known. Deep-rooted cultural prejudices do take time to transform, but in this increasingly networked world, ideas--and the dreams they inspire--can move across countries, castes and creeds.
Let us not forget that 60% of India's population is under the age of 25. The decriminalization of homosexuality is going to impact them as they come of age, develop their increasingly individualistic identities and make choices about how they wish to live. This newly empowered generation of citizens is concerned with securing economic prosperity by engaging with each other, and the rest of the world, in a culture of tolerance and respect.Is this heaven? Far from it. But India, surely, has taken a giant step away from hell.
Roy Sinai is a photographer. He lives in Bangalore, India.
Gay In India - Forbes.com
