Homosexuality is considered a taboo not only in India, but also in the entire Southern Asia. In India, homosexuality is still a very sensitive subject and is treated somewhere close to illegal and a grade below, despite the 2009 court ruling which overturned the colonial law that declared homosexuality as a crime punishable by 10 years in jail. The uncertainty of Indians’ behavior towards lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) people is quite deep-rooted and is also related to the ancient culture and religion. But even when a large majority of Indians strongly opposes homosexuality citing cultural and religious reasons, one can easily find references to polygamy, homosexuality in the ‘divine union’ in the ancient scriptures and epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and the ancient text of Kamasutra. In the year 2001, Naz Foundation filed a Petition challenging IPC 377 in Delhi High Court. The section 377 under Indian Penal Code has been enacted under the British rule in 1860 and mainly targeted LGBT people, over generations, by harassing, blackmailing and also permitting to even arrest them under special cases. When the Delhi High Court decriminalized homosexual intercourse between consenting adults in 2009 saying that it violated “the fundamental right to life and liberty, and the right to equality as guaranteed by the Constitution of India", there were widespread celebrations among the gay communities of India. It was also one of the most debated judgments in the history of India. Most of the urban metro cities in India like Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Bangalore saw many homosexuals coming out into the streets, with the tag “YES I am Gay”. Many supporters and activists of LGBT community also came into the open cheering for them. But the attitude of general public is still quite conservative. Our social system and political climate still cannot tolerate the concept of same-sex marriage, even though the law doesn’t find any criminal offence in it. Indian society is witnessing drastic attitudinal shifts too as there is a certain group of people who support and stand up for the cause of LGBT people. Indian cinema is also very liberally taking up LGBT issues which influence Indian masses in a great manner. While most of the foreign countries have taken a clear stand on homosexuality, our Indian law neither bans same-sex marriage in a total manner, nor explicitly extends its full support to it. The question of inclusion of LGBT has many facets like personal, social, moral, political and professional relevance, and yet continues to remain unaddressed in India.
