On Monday, December 11th, 2013, the Supreme Court of India overturned an earlier judgement of the Delhi High Court dating July 2nd, 2009 that had declared Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code unconstitutional with respect to sex between consenting adults. In short, the High Court of Delhi had in 2009, given a verdict against the archaic Chapter XV1, Section 377 of the Indian Penal code that criminalizes sexual activities seen as "against the order of nature", including acts of homosexuality. This is a section of law dating back to 1861 that the High Court in its wisdom had understood to be intrusive and impinging on individual freedom, especially in our times. The Supreme Court held that amending or repealing
Section 377 should be a matter left to Parliament, not the judiciary. The reaction to the Supreme Court's order was along expected lines. The gay and transgendered community was shocked, appalled, angry and pained. The keepers of India's morality were happy, joyous, vindicated and triumphant. I am shocked, appalled, angry and pained. I am not gay.
I have known many gay people in my life. They are all decent, law abiding and tax paying people of their respective societies.The apparel and fashion business gets more than its fair share of gays as do other creatively centered businesses, so, being a part of this world threw me in the company of many such people. At first, I was awkward, even wary. It wasn't so much about their sexual orientation as it was about my inability to arrive upon my own reactions to them. Soon, my awkwardness gave way to disinterest partly because I am fiercely private and I value other people's privacy as much as mine and partly because I found no difference between gay people and straight people. I mean, I had no interest in the sexual orientation of my straight co workers unless it fell in the realm of occasional teasing about a potential love or lust interest. Soon I was able to make the same banter with my gay co workers too. In short, the oh-my-god-they're-gay moment came and went with the blink of an eye. Along the way, I've met many men with husbands and women with wives, partied with them, partaken in their family gatherings and enjoyed being a part of their lives. Never once did it occur to me or them that we were in a social relationship "against the order of nature". But it seems that Supreme Court could neither come to terms with this alternative sexuality nor could it completely kill the issue of acceptance of homosexuality for all times to come. While it overturned the earlier order of the High Court, it still left an opening that rests the fate of homosexuals regarding their very entity with the Parliament of India. Till then, indulging in homosexual acts is a culpable offense. So, we have almost 50 million new criminals in our country overnight! The thought of two men or women having sex just shakes the very foundations of our society it seems!
Debate upon debate on news channels has gays saying that it is humiliating that they are now going to legally be criminals. I believe that the Supreme Court order had more to do with coercing gays to disown their sexual preference and be counted amongst straight people rather than criminalizing them. The latter is the intended and arrived consequence of lack of capitulation by the gays. It is almost as if someone thought that by making homosexuality culpable, homosexuals would submit silently into a false identity of heterosexuality. Post 2009, many people got the courage to confirm their homosexuality. There was now a law that legally and constitutionally gave them the freedom and the protection to acknowledge and confirm that. I wonder what will happen to all those openly gay people now. Will their employers fire them for being criminals or will they have to give affidavits that they do not indulge in anal or oral sex since both are now illegal. How then are homosexuals supposed to have sex? Or does the Supreme Court want them not to ever have sex for all times to come because they are gay? Is this a punishment on top of a threat? What happens to heterosexual people who indulge in anal or oral sex? Can husbands and wives now take each other to the local police station because one of them wanted oral sex and the other refused? The stupidity of it all baffles me. The Supreme Court wants red beacons off from cars. The reasoning is infallible. It is a symbol of power mongering by people who ride rough shod over others and their use disrupts and threatens the common man's life. How does my neighbor having anal sex in his or her bedroom disrupt my life? Does it cause traffic jams? Does it give rise to inflation? Does it abet infiltration from an enemy country? Does it prevent Lok Pals or Vishaka Committees from being incorporated?
You really cannot and should not attempt to calibrate love. There is no meter to judge its longevity, purity, intensity or power. There are homosexual couples who have been in loving relationships for decades. There are homosexual couples who have been and are raising children. They cry when either falls ill. It hurts when one dies on the other. They buy groceries, decorate their homes, help their kids with homework, attend PTA's They have fights. They sulk. They kiss and then they make up, or not. What part of any of this looks like it is"against the order of nature" ? These are real people and like real people, some are nice and some are not. Some contribute immensely to their social surroundings, others do not. Some make great friends and lovers and others do not. Some make great parents and others do not. Some are responsible for creating the gay stereotype that has further fueled the prejudice against them. Effeminate men and masculine women are not mascots of the homosexual community. But nothing warrants them being criminalized. The heterosexual world does not realize what gut wrenching pain and sadness the homosexual community in India must be feeling at this time. The time for sympathy is over, This is now the time to empathise.
The gorgeous Vikram Seth wrote a poem called 'Dubious". It goes like this..
Some men like Jack
And some like Jill
I'm glad that I like
Them both, but still
I wonder if
This freewheeling
Really is an
Enlightened thing
Or is its greater
Scope a sign
Of deviance from
Some party line?
In the strict ranks of
Gay and Straight
What is my status:
Stray? or Great?
Can you feel the protagonist's pain? Can you understand what he is saying? What sort of existence does he have that he is forced to question whether he is even enlightened? Will he reach his intended greatness only if he is straight? If he is not straight will he be a stray, a castaway from his own potential god given greatness in life?.
I have known many gay people in my life. They are all decent, law abiding and tax paying people of their respective societies.The apparel and fashion business gets more than its fair share of gays as do other creatively centered businesses, so, being a part of this world threw me in the company of many such people. At first, I was awkward, even wary. It wasn't so much about their sexual orientation as it was about my inability to arrive upon my own reactions to them. Soon, my awkwardness gave way to disinterest partly because I am fiercely private and I value other people's privacy as much as mine and partly because I found no difference between gay people and straight people. I mean, I had no interest in the sexual orientation of my straight co workers unless it fell in the realm of occasional teasing about a potential love or lust interest. Soon I was able to make the same banter with my gay co workers too. In short, the oh-my-god-they're-gay moment came and went with the blink of an eye. Along the way, I've met many men with husbands and women with wives, partied with them, partaken in their family gatherings and enjoyed being a part of their lives. Never once did it occur to me or them that we were in a social relationship "against the order of nature". But it seems that Supreme Court could neither come to terms with this alternative sexuality nor could it completely kill the issue of acceptance of homosexuality for all times to come. While it overturned the earlier order of the High Court, it still left an opening that rests the fate of homosexuals regarding their very entity with the Parliament of India. Till then, indulging in homosexual acts is a culpable offense. So, we have almost 50 million new criminals in our country overnight! The thought of two men or women having sex just shakes the very foundations of our society it seems!
Debate upon debate on news channels has gays saying that it is humiliating that they are now going to legally be criminals. I believe that the Supreme Court order had more to do with coercing gays to disown their sexual preference and be counted amongst straight people rather than criminalizing them. The latter is the intended and arrived consequence of lack of capitulation by the gays. It is almost as if someone thought that by making homosexuality culpable, homosexuals would submit silently into a false identity of heterosexuality. Post 2009, many people got the courage to confirm their homosexuality. There was now a law that legally and constitutionally gave them the freedom and the protection to acknowledge and confirm that. I wonder what will happen to all those openly gay people now. Will their employers fire them for being criminals or will they have to give affidavits that they do not indulge in anal or oral sex since both are now illegal. How then are homosexuals supposed to have sex? Or does the Supreme Court want them not to ever have sex for all times to come because they are gay? Is this a punishment on top of a threat? What happens to heterosexual people who indulge in anal or oral sex? Can husbands and wives now take each other to the local police station because one of them wanted oral sex and the other refused? The stupidity of it all baffles me. The Supreme Court wants red beacons off from cars. The reasoning is infallible. It is a symbol of power mongering by people who ride rough shod over others and their use disrupts and threatens the common man's life. How does my neighbor having anal sex in his or her bedroom disrupt my life? Does it cause traffic jams? Does it give rise to inflation? Does it abet infiltration from an enemy country? Does it prevent Lok Pals or Vishaka Committees from being incorporated?
You really cannot and should not attempt to calibrate love. There is no meter to judge its longevity, purity, intensity or power. There are homosexual couples who have been in loving relationships for decades. There are homosexual couples who have been and are raising children. They cry when either falls ill. It hurts when one dies on the other. They buy groceries, decorate their homes, help their kids with homework, attend PTA's They have fights. They sulk. They kiss and then they make up, or not. What part of any of this looks like it is"against the order of nature" ? These are real people and like real people, some are nice and some are not. Some contribute immensely to their social surroundings, others do not. Some make great friends and lovers and others do not. Some make great parents and others do not. Some are responsible for creating the gay stereotype that has further fueled the prejudice against them. Effeminate men and masculine women are not mascots of the homosexual community. But nothing warrants them being criminalized. The heterosexual world does not realize what gut wrenching pain and sadness the homosexual community in India must be feeling at this time. The time for sympathy is over, This is now the time to empathise.
The gorgeous Vikram Seth wrote a poem called 'Dubious". It goes like this..
Some men like Jack
And some like Jill
I'm glad that I like
Them both, but still
I wonder if
This freewheeling
Really is an
Enlightened thing
Or is its greater
Scope a sign
Of deviance from
Some party line?
In the strict ranks of
Gay and Straight
What is my status:
Stray? or Great?
Can you feel the protagonist's pain? Can you understand what he is saying? What sort of existence does he have that he is forced to question whether he is even enlightened? Will he reach his intended greatness only if he is straight? If he is not straight will he be a stray, a castaway from his own potential god given greatness in life?.
1 comment:
I learned about this news from a friend of mine, who is not even Indian.
A step in the wrong direction. Had the original British law not been around, none of this would have been an issue. The Indian Supreme court was compelled to deliberate an issue which has mostly been defined by west. Gay, straight, bisexual, a labeling very original to our side of the world.
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