Wednesday 11 December 2013

On Indian Supreme Court's Judgment Criminalizing Gay Sex:

A nation where heterosexual people are yet to fully secure their sexual freedom will certainly criminalize homosexuals:

In a country were heterosexual women are subjected to rape, torture and murder under the garb of "honour killings" for having sexual relations outside of marriage or for having sexual relationships across caste barriers, I would say that people of heterosexual orientation themselves are yet to secure complete sexual rights and sexual freedoms in India, and hence, gay people are in for a very long wait to secure their rights in India. A heterosexual man's or a heterosexual woman's freedom to sexually desire and cohabit with a person of his her choice outside of marriage - irrespective of caste or religious barriers is still not accepted in India. Then, how will Indian society accept gay people's freedom to sexually cohabit when heterosexual people are denied the same freedom if they sexually cohabit outside of marriage and across caste barriers? Indian women who freely choose to desire, love and have sexual relationships with men based on their free choice by defying caste barriers will be vilified as immoral women and killed, particularly if they have sexual affairs with Dalit men, while sexual morality is defined as a blind acceptance and subservience to pre-ordained arranged marriages which coerces or forces women to subject themselves to marital rape under the garb of an arranged marriage. Women are frequently subjected to rapes in India since the concept of a woman freely consenting or freely desiring to choose a sexual partner on her own free will, sexual desire and freedom is not accepted in India. Conversely, a woman's parents and relatives believe that an Indian woman can be coerced, cajoled, emotionally blackmailed or forced to marry and forced to have marital sex with a man against her free will and desire, which is nothing but rape. This thinking which assumes that a woman can be forced or compelled to marry and have forced sex with a man under the garb of an arranged marriage and thus subjecting her to rape, is the same thinking which motivates rapists to believe that a woman can be forced or compelled to have sex with them just as a woman can be forced or compelled to marry a man against her free will in an arranged marriage. In other words, the psychological premise behind an arranged marriage and rape are the same. Many conservative Indian women, including educated parents, subscribe to such a regressive attitude towards women's sexuality. A woman or a man who may choose to love or live with a person of the opposite gender belonging to another caste will be most probably pursued and killed by their own parents and relatives. In many Indian cities, young Indian couples who smooch, kiss or hug in public (in parks and beaches) are arrested and persecuted by the police under some expedient legal pretext such as "causing public nuisance".  Many colleges in several Indian towns practice gender segregation and prevent boys and girls from even talking to each other. Given this dire situation for heterosexual rights which is never highlighted by the Brahmin and upper caste controlled Indian mainstream media which has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo of the caste system by controlling the sexuality of heterosexual women and heterosexual men, homosexual rights are in for a long wait in India. The point I am trying to make is that sexual rights and human rights are absent for unmarried heterosexual couples who sexually cohabit across caste barriers and religious divides in India just as they are absent for homosexual couples in India. Gay people cannot win their rights in India unless they realize this situation and fight for the sexual rights of all people in India, both heterosexual and homosexual. But most Indian Gay activists are themselves elitist, urban and upper caste who are happy to appease the status quo instead of fighting for a more radical sexual rights agenda for both straight and gay people.

No comments:

Post a Comment