A male friend who was sexually assaulted, as a child, by his aunt is confused of his sexual orientation. A female acquaintance who was almost raped by a horny uncle 6 times her age, while growing up in a village in Rajasthan, is experimenting with lesbianism. The psychological trauma they go through is beyond our imagination and society does not make things any easier for them. To further add to the mental agony, the honorable Supreme Court, in a retrograde decision to upheld the provisions of article 377, has made them criminals in the eyes of law and hence liable to further harassment.
All said and done, homosexuals are not necessarily products of a repressive childhood. A person can be gay by birth and even though it is not common, it does occur and is definitely not abnormal. Homosexuality occurs within nature. Scientists have observed gay tendencies in more than 1500 species of animals. Some animals like dolphins even make advances on humans. Only people who have difficulty in accepting the fact are religious fanatics who simply choose to shun all logic and spread hatred. As a friend rightly pointed out: Fanatics may be divided by their religion but are united by their homophobia.
Homophobia like patriarchy is deeply embedded in our society. We use the term ‘straight’ for heterosexuals implying anything otherwise is a social anomaly and a ‘crooked way’ of living. But consent is the watchword here. Whatever our prejudices, we have no right to interfere in the private matter of two consenting adults as long as it does not harm others.
We could contribute to the society much better by speaking up against real issues like marital rape, on which surprisingly the Supreme Court has always maintained silence, rather than by taking away the fundamental right to equality from the sexual minorities.
Ram Gopal Verma sums up the trademark hypocrisy of Indians best by tweeting ,”Can someone please educate me if men worshiping the ‘shivling’ be punishable too u/s 377″. Taking his logic a step further further, are hindu men gay?
