Homosexuality, a legitimate and ancient form of sexual behaviour, that is experienced by a few, needs to be given legitimacy in India, as per the Indian Penal Code. The Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, that was introduced by the Colonial British in 1861, around 150 years ago, criminalizes this sort of sexual activity as against the “order of nature”. The reason itself is flawed as no one knows what the “order of nature”, is. Human race, in its quest for materialism, money, development has crossed all the barriers that the nature allows in it’s pristine form. Poaching, deforestation, pollution, incriminate industrialization, biodiversity threats, and all the woes of nature that it suffers today, and eventually impacts us is because of the gross violation of the “order of nature”. If we were sincere to the order of nature, the need for water and air purifiers had not been there. The farmers would not have been crying for the monsoon rains and biodiversity would have been safe and productive. This is the real threat to the “order of nature”, and not a person indulging in intimacy with a person within the comforts of his bedroom.
This entire idea of Section 377 is flawed that not only violates the basic rights but also goes against the premise of equality for everyone. They are looked upon as inferior species, not because of their caste or their language or region or religion but because they simply possess a sexual characteristic which is abhorred by a majoritarian section, that looks upon the act as a sin, which contravenes religion and pores impurity in the society. When, I talk religion, I don’t mean religion per-se, but the people who stand on behalf of religion foisting their faith, which again is a personal matter of every person, on others. In India, homosexuality is mentioned in Kamasutra, and therefore, to oppose this based on cultural argument is imbecilic, ridiculous, and distortion of history. It denies the Indian culture and history its share of applause that it should be winning for being liberal and receptive towards various sexual forms ages before any other civilization and society understood. The Supreme Court recently passed a landmark judgement on the “right to privacy”, where it was included under the Fundamental Rights (Part 3- Article21) and rightly so. It ruled out that intimacy is an element of privacy and no one including the state, has the right to intervene in someone’s bedroom. Therefore, one could argue the concept of Section 377, that criminalizes sexual relationship between two adults of same sexes, contradicts with the fundamental premise of Supreme Court’s judgement on privacy. The legislature has failed in giving the justice to the miniscule population that suffers gross discrimination, harassment, danger, ridicule and agony daily. LGBT community is most marginalized, discriminated community that needs protection from the law, from the homophobes.
The law needs a change, if not annulment. Indulging in a relationship with consent shall not be made an issue of mockery. There should be recognition of homosexuality as a legitimate form of relationship and they need to be assimilated in the mainstream. The Preamble of India that starts with, “We The People”, should not seek to exclude one community from the text, “We, The People” must consist of homosexuals as well.