LGBTQIA+ : Then and Now

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer are just a few of the terms we use today to express a variety of sexualities and gender identities. For the most part, we don't know how people in the past would have described their sexuality or gender. The term "LGBTQ+" was chosen because we believe it best captures the range of experiences and identities shared by people whose sexualities do not conform to conventional norms. Every year in June, the whole world celebrates Pride month, and every single year it's about celebrating love in every shape and form and about acceptance of the fact that to fall in love, it is not necessary that a boy should love a girl and a girl should love a boy. Love is love. A girl can fall in love with a girl and a boy can fall in love with a boy. Since the beginning, it's been said that Indians are very influenced by Western culture. But many do not know that legalising gay marriage in India was not influenced by Western culture but actually by Indian culture itself.

Is Homosexuality Against Indian Culture? Subramanian Swamy once claimed that fighting for LGBTQ+ rights is an ‘American game.’ The strongest opposition to decriminalising homosexuality in India was on the grounds of it being "against our Indian culture". But is it really so? Kamasutra, in the 4th century A.D., mentions physical pleasure in male-male unions in vivid detail. 14th century Bengal folklore tells the story of a sexual relationship between two widows. In medieval India, Bhakti saints would effeminise themselves to worship Krishna and Shiva. On certain holy days, Nawabs in the Awadh court of the 18th century would dress up as women. Scholars point out that while these queer practises might not have been widely practised, they were never derided or looked down upon. In fact, Indian poets like Insha and Rangin openly wrote about male-male and female-female relationships in the same tones as heterosexual relationships until the early 1800s. Homosexuality began to be viewed as a crime against "the order of nature" only in 1860, when Thomas Macaulay introduced Section 377 into the Indian Penal Code, modelled after the English Buggery Act of 1533, which made anal and oral sex a punishable offence. In fact, India’s openness towards sex and sexuality ironically became one of the reasons the British classified it as a "backward" civilization. By 1967, Britain passed a law legalising same-sex relations, but the Victorian idea that homosexuality was "unnatural" had become entrenched as an integral part of Indian values. In 1998, for instance, when film-maker Deepa Mehta's lesbian love story "Fire" was released in Indian theatres, it led to a large-scale protest by Indian political parties, from Bajrang Dal to the BJP, who attacked theatres and burnt effigies of actors, accusing the film of "being alien" to Indian tradition and culture. But LGBTQ+ activists have fought back against these perceptions. It is their legal and social work over the years that highlights our rich history of queer traditions. This activism, combined with the courage of prominent LGBTQ individuals, paved the way for the long legal battle that led to the supreme court finally decriminalising homosexuality in India in 2018. On the other hand, queer activism takes many forms, speaking through cinema, politics, music, sports, and a variety of other mediums to challenge the heteronormative notion of what constitutes Indian culture.

Life After ‘Coming out’ Today, almost 3 billion people live in countries that criminalise consensual same-sex activity. Recognizing and sharing one's sexual orientation or gender identity is a gradual process. Despite legal advances, the majority of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people do not disclose their sexual orientation. According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 46% of LGBT+ people are closeted at work, and 28% are completely closed off and not open to anyone in their lives. "Coming out" takes courage, and it is a process that LGBT+ people must go through every time they meet someone new. Many people live in where being LGBTQ is so dangerous that they risk being assaulted, imprisoned, or, worst of all, brutally murdered for expressing their sexual . They are afraid of revealing their secret inner life to anyone by revealing their sexual orientation, which could put them at the mercy of a hostile , neighbour, or state . This is a daily for millions of people all over the world. In 2017, for , reports surfaced that gay and men were being rounded up and tortured in Chechnya. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International both condemned reports of gay men being held in concentration camps. against LGBT people is a national and a human issue, not just a local one. LGBT people continue to have greater rates of and suicide than people from other . Non-inclusive work settings have been demonstrated to have a on in , in to the toll may take on .

Here is a timeline of major events -

INDIA'S FIGHT AGAINST SECTION 377