The Perception of Homosexuality in Hindu Texts Essay

The Perception of Homosexuality in Hindu Texts
Homosexuality or sexuality in general, remains to be a taboo in India, and mentioning it in a private conversation or political discussion is out of the question. Violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities in India is reported on a daily basis. Business Insider UK reports on the 7th of April 2015, that India's LGBT community deals with daily confrontations of (emotional) blackmail and abuse. This all due to the prevailing anti-homosexuality laws against pro-homosexual efforts and demonstrations (Bhalla). Even the ones supporting the LGBT community fear the same discriminative and violent consequences. The Gay Times reports that a man has been arrested for attempting to commit suicide for breaking up with his boyfriend, he was told that he could be accused of performing homosexual activities. In another case two men were arrested because one of them seemed to act ladylike according to a police officer. The two were imprisoned, questioned and blackmailed. They were forced to pay a large sum of money to stop the officers from proceeding to register the charge. (Parker). Two months later the Guardian publishes an article about the improving rights for the global LGBT community. It mentions that the United States has now joined 19 other countries by legalizing same sex marriages. The article shows a map of countries where same sex marriages are equal to regular marriages or countries that provide a substitute for marriage. However, the turning point here is that there are still many countries that remain to consider any form of homosexuality as unnatural, and therefore these lifestyles are illegal by law. Homosexuality in these countries will be persecuted with the death penalty or imprisonment the latter one is the case in India (Dehghan).
The Delhi High Court has attempted to persuade the Supreme Court of India that the Indian Penal Code, 1860, section 377 is no longer accurate in these modern times. By neglecting and questioning the constitutional law that has been prevailing since 1860 the Delhi High Court tried to achieve abolishment of this law. However, in 2013 the India Supreme Court has overruled this attempt and reinstated the law shocking LGTB-rights activists' around the world (Asokan). After this reinstatement of section 377, the law has been called upon to directly arrest and assault members of the LGBT community (Radia).
During this process many activists have stepped forward expressing their opinions and arguments pro or against homosexuality in India. Among them were prominent, Hindu, spiritual leaders such as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. He explains that there is nothing criminal or unnatural about homosexuality according to Hinduism on the contrary Lord Ayyappa was born of Hari-Hara, Vishnu and Shiva who are both male deities ("Nothing 'un-Indian' in being a Homosexual"). Besides that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar argues that no one should be discriminated for any sexual preferences, he names this absurd. If anyone can be discriminated for their sexual preferences, should the deities Vishnu and Shiva be accused of criminal