Being gay is illegal in India

http://in.news.yahoo.com/040701/43/2epu5.html

Scores of gay rights activists marched in Delhi on Thursday demanding the removal of a colonial law which makes homosexuality illegal. Shouting slogans and waving banners, dozens of gays, lesbians and transvestites walked around the Jantar Mantar observatory demanding a change in section 377 in the Indian Penal Code.

The section bans homosexual activity, calling it “against the order of nature” and makes it punishable by a fine and a prison sentence up to 10 years.

Passers-by stopped to look at the group demonstrating in favour of gay rights just four days after a similar march drew wide attention in Kolkata. Some passers-by peered hard at their banners. Others smirked.

“What is happening?” said a woman carrying a shopping bag. “There are so many problems and all these people want to talk about is sex.”

Added another young man: “Why can’t people be normal? This is so weird.”

Forget gay marriage, I hope homosexuality atleast become legal soon.

50 Comments

  1. Anonymous · July 1, 2004 Reply

    I hope homosexuality atleast become legal soon.

    ahem… hope? why?? :p

  2. admin · July 1, 2004 Reply

    why not ?? :p

    Do you have a problem with them ?

  3. prasun · July 1, 2004 Reply

    “Why can’t people be normal? This is so weird.”

  4. manubhardwaj · July 1, 2004 Reply
    377. Unnatural offences

    Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 152[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

    Dude, “against the order of nature” refers to people taking it up the (ahem) arse and other such activity (dogs, etc.), so homosexuals saying it refers to them is technically not correct. While homosexuality is NOT illegal, (ahem) “indulging” yourself in homosexuality is.

    Also, the IPC section on rape (Art.375) begins with “A man is said to commit ‘rape’ who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman…” – in other words, a woman cannot be prosecuted for “raping” a man in India.

  5. priyatam · July 1, 2004 Reply

    my boss is GAY.

    Homosexuality is quite open in european countries., in fact they’re so proud to let their sexuality out in public. I still rem him ‘confessing’ to me about this in a chirstmas party when all our colleagues were half drunk.

    I dont think India is ready to accept this, we have far to many problems to think about

  6. togagirl · July 2, 2004 Reply

    you got guts, Kalyan
    people gonna call you gay for this
    I get called a feminista for saying the truth about how lowly life still is for women
    the truth, brother

  7. fus · July 2, 2004 Reply

    far far away

    in a country which still debates sex education, giving homosexuality acceptance is far far away

    if you’d seen a certain debate on the 24X7 dishing, a certain woman, a school counsellor, was of the view that sex education would encourage kids to experiment (the good lady must have grown up in a strict victorian environment i presume) and so should not happen in schools. we live in these times!

  8. nithya · July 2, 2004 Reply

    question…. did he ever make any advances?? or did he ever try molesting you??

  9. vaibhav · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Even before going into the comments page of this post, I hoped for this kind of a comment to be buried somewhere at the bottom or maybe even missing, but bleh!

    *sigh*

  10. Anonymous · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Despite the laughs involved, it is unlikely that someone with such a gorgeous girlfriend is going to get tagged “gay” anytime soon.

  11. achitnis · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Uh, apologies for the anon post – looks like my LJ login cookie expired or something.

  12. noelladsa · July 2, 2004 Reply

    hmmm..homosexuality != lecherous behaviour you know .

  13. noelladsa · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Re: far far away

    a certain woman, a school counsellor, was of the view that sex education would encourage kids to experiment

    This reminds me of a recent incident, I’m not sure if it happened in the US or UK. But it was about sex education seminars in school where masturbation was encouraged just so that youngsters would avoid intercourse .
    And the above was the reaction from teachers and parents.ie they feared they’d be encouraging kids to experiment with intercourse.

  14. fus · July 2, 2004 Reply

    if he made advances it would be just like if your boss made advances on you

  15. admin · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Dude, “against the order of nature” refers to people taking it up the (ahem) arse and other such activity (dogs, etc.), so homosexuals saying it refers to them is technically not correct.

    So a male and a female cannot have sex “againt the order of nature” ??

    While homosexuality is NOT illegal, (ahem) “indulging” yourself in homosexuality is.

    I don’t get this part. Its legal for one to be homosexual but its illegal for him to love a same sex person ??

  16. admin · July 2, 2004 Reply

    I dont think India is ready to accept this, we have far to many problems to think about

    for same-sex couples , this is the largest problem in their lives. but yes, we have long way to go on all fronts

  17. nithya · July 2, 2004 Reply

    no ma i only wanted to know if his boss ever got interested in him,..
    im sure he got my meaning.. survived 4 yrs together..

  18. nithya · July 2, 2004 Reply

    manu that pic scared the shit out of me early in the morning da

  19. yathin · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Forget gay marriage, I hope homosexuality atleast become legal soon.

    It does’nt matter if it’s legal or illegal in India.

  20. fus · July 2, 2004 Reply

    yes, according to the indian constitution a male and female cannot have sex “against the order of nature” and the “order of nature” is … oh well, nature must have whispered her rules in some ears.

    yes guy A can tell guy B he loves him and they can be in love full archies style but the kamasutra style between guys not allowed. see but do not touch. full metaphysical (all puns absolutely intended).

    as for kamasutra, wonder how many of those are in the “order of nature” and to think that is a celebrated text from ancient india.

    kallu, basically that law is an archaic british law, the british have long got rid of it, and we keep it and worship it even labelling it as culture

  21. fus · July 2, 2004 Reply

    a male and a female cannot have sex “againt the order of nature” ??

    ahemm!! and you ask because ? wicked kallu

  22. achitnis · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Yeah, it is pretty hair-raising!

  23. Anonymous · July 2, 2004 Reply

    trying to say you lost your sense of humour somewhere? 😉

  24. thaths · July 2, 2004 Reply

    What is “normal”? Is wiping ones ass with a piece of paper normal? Is the caste system normal? Normalcy is a fallacy.

  25. thaths · July 2, 2004 Reply

    did he ever make any advances?? or did he ever try molesting you?

    I am not sure what your intent is in asking this question. If you are trying to make a point that not all gay men jump on every passing man – Gay or Straint – then I see the point.

    But, if you are suggesting that gay men, somehow want to get into the pants of every male acquitance in their life, let me ask you this question – do all your male colleagues make advances or molest you?

  26. krishi · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Ahem!! why so?

  27. priyatam · July 2, 2004 Reply

    well, def not in an unprofessional way. He does give an occasional smile at me, but again its wrong on our part to think he’s making advances just because hes GAY.

    But hey let me tell you one thing, how many times didnt we see an ‘obvious’ flirtation in the opp sexes in the offices? Now just because its Gay doesnt mean its different. The Rules of the Game are same.

    The Question is – should the Game be played or not., is Gay legal or not?
    & not whether they can have sex or make advances!!! Alls fair as long as they do their roles in the society & dont expect ‘straights’ to be gays!!.

    Anyway, I no longer report to him, so cant really comment.

  28. manubhardwaj · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Oh My God! My side just split! 😉

  29. manubhardwaj · July 2, 2004 Reply

    Actually, it’s not the Indian Constitution, it’s the Indian Penal Code. If the constitution started referring to taking it up the arse… my God, the horror of it!!

  30. nithya · July 3, 2004 Reply

    ya i only wnated to know how it feels being at the receiving end for a guy..
    im sure its gonna feel a little different..
    for example if a guy tries making passes at me i would probably dismiss it saying thats what always happens ..but tomorrow if a female makes passes at me.. i am gonna feel very very disturbed..

  31. nithya · July 3, 2004 Reply

    hey i was trying to make the first point that you mentioned..
    i have never known a person who is gay for one..
    second thing.. i want to know how it feels from a guys perspective to be working under someone who is gay..
    does it feel any different at all..
    thirdly.. i somehow get the feeling that gays might tend to over express feelings of emotion and stuff.. but i dont know how it feels to be in the shoes of the receiving end..
    thats exactly why i asked the question..
    i certainly never meant that gays try molesting everyone they see..

  32. nithya · July 3, 2004 Reply

    i wanted to know about how you felt being in close proximity of one..
    no offense to him being gay .. its his life and wish after all

  33. manubhardwaj · July 3, 2004 Reply

    Because nobody is ever (or ever has been) prosecuted under that law anyway.

  34. krishi · July 3, 2004 Reply

    Hmmm….makes sense. Just wondering, if homosexuality is *illegal* in India, then shouldn’t few of the protestors be arrested and prosecuted ‘cos they have admitted that they’re homosexuals. Looks like the protest is more symbolic rather than of any practical significance. I guess efforts should be made so that people accept that homosexuality is *not abnormal*.

    BTW, can somebody explain as to why heterosexuals are called *straight*, while homosexuals aren’t?

  35. fus · July 3, 2004 Reply

    the protestors are not homosexuals. and protesting is not an admittance to homosexuality

  36. fus · July 3, 2004 Reply

    receiving end for a man from another man ? or from a woman ?

    if it is from a woman, it is not too uncommon.
    you could see a story of such an encounter in disclosure, or read the book.

  37. fus · July 3, 2004 Reply

    why they have 2 green horns and a red tail, is it ?

  38. nithya · July 3, 2004 Reply

    dude.. of course i am talking about man from another man..

  39. nithya · July 3, 2004 Reply

    appu… i am really trying to find out..
    dont make a joke out of it..

  40. admin · July 3, 2004 Reply

    Appu is right.. how will he be any different from you or me just because he is gay ??

  41. achitnis · July 3, 2004 Reply

    Uh, dude – read your sentence again, and see what it says.

  42. fus · July 4, 2004 Reply

    yeah just got a fifteen minute lecture from my brother about it, who also says the only way to repeal it would be either the right to equality or the right to expression and much more.

    we should have done law manu

  43. fus · July 4, 2004 Reply

    muahahahaha

    must be his subconscious. he is always under the assumption that i am gay and making the moves on him. 😉

  44. fus · July 4, 2004 Reply

    uhmm if i may ask where did you get this feeling from : the feeling that gays might tend to over express feelings of emotion and stuff

  45. admin · July 5, 2004 Reply

    ok ok.. bad wording.. in the above sentence ‘he’ == priyatams’s boss

  46. admin · July 5, 2004 Reply

    *ahem* .. check my reply to atul

  47. krishi · July 5, 2004 Reply

    >”Isn’t it high time the government looked around and realized that
    >gays and lesbians exist? You cannot wish us away,” said Akshay, who
    >works for a Delhi-based advocacy group, Prism.

    From the article. So you’re telling me that the dude isn’t a homosexual?

  48. fus · July 5, 2004 Reply

    my mistake, should have phrased it right – all protestors are not homosexuals.

    also saying you are homosexual is not illegal per se … see thread above

  49. manubhardwaj · July 5, 2004 Reply

    I’m rather happy with my life, thank you 🙂

    Obviously, I gave serious thought to law (NLS only, of course)… unlike you, I had the benefit of an ELDER (not younger) brother doing law… so it was a very real option… but it wasn’t really what I wanted to do.

    IAC, it looks like both my brother and me will end up doing pretty much the same kind of work now…

  50. krishi · July 5, 2004 Reply

    > my mistake, should have phrased it right – all protestors are not homosexuals.

    I never mentioned that all of the protestors are homosexuals.

    > also saying you are homosexual is not illegal per se …

    Makes sense. I was looking for a reply and got one. Thx! 🙂

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