Archive for April 2008
Uffes question
What are the living conditions for homosexuals in India; socially, culturally and politically?
Politcally:
According to the law from 1866 it is still illegal to have sexual intercourse of unnatural kind in India and it has the maximum penalty up to 10 years of imprisonment. This means in practice that gay men are not allowed to have sex with each other but is allowed to be gay. Concerning women the law does not apply as they are not sought off to have intercourse while making love. However in the year of 2006 several gay men were arrested in a small rural village in India for being homosexuals. People started protesting against this as their where no proof of the men ever having sex, and as they also so it us an insult and an offence of the right of just being gay. I think this jus states how far the society and the gay men actually has come in reaching a safe place to meet. It also meant that the law from 1866 now still is under examination.
Socially and culturally:
To be gay in India means hiding from the society while performing an act of love. Even though the law is slightly more tolerable to lesbians the culture and the society of India does not allow them to have sex or show their love to each other in public. Today even though the first openly married lesbian couple In India does exist, its society still has very little to offer gay and lesbian love. One can only imagine what role the pre agreed marriage has in shaping the society sexually in India and other states with the same – no sex before marriage norms. It is though common that parents tell their male teenagers that having an attraction to other boys is a phase that will pass as they get married. In some cases this does not change, and the society deals with this often by letting the man living a double life. There is website were male gay men are looking for other gay men, and there is three different options to tick, one is single looking for a partner, one is married looking will not divorce and one is married locking for a partner will divorce when I meet a partner.
To talk about an open society for homosexuals we can also look at India´s old way of dealing with male transvestite and gay men. They used to “fix” the problem by calling them a special cast. Today you still meet a lot of men wearing women clothing and begging for money. In this way it´s legalized to be different.
Today the prostitution market for male prostitutes is really growing. In the city which are said to be the city of art and culture, Kolkata, male prostitutes are also said to be most common of all Indian cities. They do so to be able to leave the rural area and get a descent and rather open living as a homosexuals. It is freedom in one way and prison in another.
Another way of looking at the homosexual’s right to freely express their love is by comparing it to heterosexual’s right to do the same. The heterosexuals in this country are not supposed to show their love to each other in public at all. Even holding hands Is a sign of this bad manner. To see to male friends hold hands or being what we in the western world seems to be very close and intimate for being friends is common among Indians. How much this has to do with people actually being gay is hard for me to say. Another thing that strikes me is if not having a lover before your getting married and living so separated from the other gender could lead to what the society of India doesn’t want to talk about, more people being homosexuals.
Summary
My opinion of the matter of this question is that it must be very hard for homosexuals in India. This is first of all as it is still illegal to have sex as a gay man. The law helps very much to form the norms of the society. Start changing the law and the society will follow especially as the internet and other sorts of communication tools are narrowing down the globe. As India is finally opening up since the early 90´s the biggest democratic power in the world can soon no longer stand against the pressure from both within and without on how they treat about one tenth of their population. And us money pile in to the Big Cities, so must the free minded people.
