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Seeking inclusiveness
| AYESHA MATTHANtries to figure out what the recent reading down of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code means to the LGBT community |
UNITED COLOURS OF CITIZENS Whatever be their sexual orientation
Until a few days ago, housing, employment, inheritance, the right to visit one’s partner in hospital, legal guardianship, housing loans and pension benefits were denied to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community. The Delhi High Court division bench comprising Justice A.P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar read down Section 377 (passed in 1860) of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises same sex relationships.
Says Winnie Varghese, a gay rector and gay rights activist in New York City, “It is a powerful anti-colonial statement for India to say it rejects a section of the British Penal Code. This should cause generations to question what has been taught to them as normal, what they have suppressed or oppressed, to create a more accepting space for the next generations of Indians to enjoy the freedom to live as they are.”
Constant victimisation
Undercover cops have always arranged meetings with gays and laid traps, gays were given shock therapy to be cured of a “mental illness”, health officials denied HIV/AIDS treatment to the LGBT community, hijras are victims to police brutality and sexual violence. As a minority, homosexuals represent 0.3 per cent of the population. Feminist and political scientist Nivedita Menon distinguishes between nature and culture in “How Natural is Normal”, published in “Because I have a voice — Queer Politics in India” edited by Arvind Narrain and Gautam Bhan. “The assumption is that ‘normal’ sexual behaviour springs from nature, and that it has nothing to do with culture or history. But if we recognise that sexuality is located in culture, we have to deal with the uncomfortable idea that sexuality is a human construct... Only the heterosexual, patriarchal family is permitted to exist. And this family is about the passing on of property through men. The ‘normality’ that this requires is produced, maintained, and rigorously policed by the state, laws and social institutions. It is far from being natural or private.”
From Ayyapa to Aravan, Indian mythology and literature has a rich plethora of queer figures recorded in the book “Same-Sex Love in India” edited by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai as well as Devdutt Pattanaik’s “Man who was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore”. Yet, religious clerics and anti-gays insist it is unnatural, un-Indian and ungodly. Says mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik: “I think their understanding of Indian culture is based on personal prejudice rather than actual research or study. A 100 years ago, these very same keepers of culture would have been opposed to women’s education and widow remarriage. And the guiding force of change in a civil society must be empathy and inclusiveness, not discrimination and hierarchy.”
Most importantly, besides recognising that same sex union is not criminal, it includes a people with different social, cultural, economic and religious backgrounds into an active democracy. Says human rights lawyer Arvind Narrain, “The judgement treats sexual orientation as an analogous ground of discrimination in Article 15. This means that if a LGBT person is discriminated on grounds of access to housing, schooling etc., one can file a petition challenging the discrimination as unconstitutional. The judgment moves beyond decriminalising sexual acts to opening out a space for non-discriminatory access to a range of services. Any denial of services to transgenders can be challenged before any High Court, asserting that they are full citizens of the country.”
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