Homosexuality

Legions of homosexuals , self proclaimed activists and NGOs were seen rejoicing as the Delhi High court modified the section 377 in favour of homosexuals. Overwhelming pictures of homosexuals and voices from various spheres of life surfaced in the newspapers and television. It was a win for democracy, a vibrant and evolving democracy. Raised eyebrows and
voracious protests also poured in but for a change, they were all overpowered.

A community which was subjected to impertinence and iniquity had long been waiting for this day. Groping for some support, the judiciary came to its rescue, something that we should be proud of as a democratic country. The bigotry was shed and the anachronous law took a huge
historical forward move.

What followed the judgement were Gay marriages and slew of debates both in the media and in the society, sudden appearance of homosexuals coming forward accepting their orientation and suddenly India or the Bharat seemed like a completely different place. Suddenly, preposterous demands for legalisation of prostitution came without even thinking
that in a country like India which has a large population living in parsimony and extreme conditions, prostitution in most of the cases is coercive and taken not willingly but out of compulsion to make a living. And thus is not at par with homosexuality.

So, is the country ready for this change and has this judgement done it or it is just another hype and are the homosexuals just being megalomaniacs??? The ramifications of the judgement are still uncertain.
What this mitigation of section 377 has done is just and just decriminalised adult consensual homosexuality. It made it legitimate, legitimate in the eyes of law. But does only law define how a society behaves and evolves. Can a mere judgement sway the deep rooted conservatism in the minds of the people? What was the homosexual community looking for: to walk freely hand in hand OR the acceptance from the civil society and not be grimaced while they walk. While the law may have granted them the former but latter is still too ambitious for them to aim. While there is no doubt that the judgement in itself is historical but I doubt it could move the society's perspective. For some of those progressive and pseudo-progressive people, this may sound pusillanimous and facetious but the reality that stands on the ground is far more glaring and pinching.

The India we are talking about is not just the MTV generation but a large part of the population who still are glued to the traditional saas-bahu soaps. A generation previous to ours has pandered to the existence and prevalence of homosexuality which shouldn't be misunderstood as acceptance with open hearts. It would indeed be big mistake if we think so.

If you are in college, we all talk about gays and lesbians. We jokingly taunt our friends about them being homosexuals. If you are in hostel, you would have surely been rumoured or jokingly linked with your room-mate. We watch movies like Dostana that portray homosexualism casually and we come out laughing and hardly take it as obnoxious. Surely, we as youth have become accustomed to hearing and talking about homosexuality. It's like common part of our lingo. After all it's not that big deal, that's what we all think. After so much coverage and hype about homosexuality, some of the ignorant parents also know about it or if they already knew, today they can talk to you casually and joke about it.

And thus as a young society, we mistake ourselves as quite modern and progressive. The common point in all above examples is that none of it affects us personally. The extreme to which most of us would have gone was to have homosexual friends and that too may be a rare lot. And thus this question is for those pseudo-progressive guys: Are you fine and comfortable if your children turn out to be homosexuals? Would you not have any problems with it? And ironically when this question was posed to a lot of youngsters, they were either taken aback, some took time to react, some just went into profound thought and some very candidly, shedding
their pseudo tag of progressiveness confessed with a "No".
And their in lies the epitome of this whole article. "We are still not there"

While the Delhi High court verdict is a big step in giving homosexuality, its legal protection and is a welcome step but it is yet to inoculate a real change. We can only hope that the homosexual community will get its rightful space in the minds and hearts of the people but for now it's still a
distant dream.