For the last one week, Bangalore has been hosting its second queer pride festival. While it is nothing like the Mardi Gras-esq ones in Europe, it has a well planned and relevant itinerary. The main motivation for the pride marches is is the attitude of our law to the LGTB community.
Homosexuals in India are legally criminals. Section 377 of the IPC says that anyone who has ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’ may be imprisoned for up to 10 years. In the days it was drafted, anything from oral sex to even using a condom was considered unnatural. In spite of the British having left, and much of the unnatural having become natural and normal, this archaic law that discriminates against homosexuals is still in place. Though India has long stopped prosecuting consensual couples under the law, it is still a source of exploitation and places power in wrong hands.
What bothers me the most in about the gay rights discussion is the misplaced focus from the real problem facing trans-genders and people with alternate sexual preferences. Gay rights isn’t about the right to practice sodomy, it is about the right to be treated like a human being. It is about being allowed to be a Indian citizen, a valued part of the democracy.
That the pride marches are allowed and encouraged even, is a clear sign of the very high tolerance levels of the aam admi, as well as rising awareness about these issues. One must also concede that the non interference of the law enforcement agencies with the pride marches are an indication that law and policy have changed, if not on paper, certainly in the minds of people.
There is no doubt that the coming years are going to see definite and positive change towards equality and dignity. I think we can be confident that the day when pride marches are not demonstrations but festivals is not too far away.
AnandP
Read more about Bengaluru Pride 2009
Ps: I am not done, upcoming on the blog are posts on misconceptions about homosexuality and why my friends thought I was gay.
Photo by queeryouthindia
