History & Signficance
History of The Lgbtq+ Community in india
Researchers have found depictions of gender and sexual diversity in many instances of ancient South Asian mythology and culture. However, with the colonization of South Asia by the British Empire came Section 377 of the penal code that was instituted in 1860, which made same-sex sexual acts illegal. After this, the LGBTQ+ community in South Asia has faced continued discrimination, violence, and has been denied many rights that other citizens can enjoy.
Not only have there been systemic issues of violence and discrimination such as police brutality, being denied the right to get married or adopt, and being denied housing or jobs, there has also been severe cultural discrimination that exists throughout South Asian societies. These include “corrective” therapies such as rape or psychotic treatment, disconnection from family, being considered ill due to one’s identity, and violent and deadly hate crimes that target the LGBTQ+ community.
These tragedies continue today, although there have been some legal successes recently. Starting in the 1990s, LGBTQ+ activists and supporters in South Asia began the first pride movements and parades, and in 2009 a Delhi High Court decision found that treating consensual homosexual sex between adults as a crime was against the Constitution of India. However, Section 377 was reinstated in 2013 when the Supreme Court overturned this decision. In August 2017, the Supreme Court made a decision that upheld the right to privacy, which was a hopeful turn for the LGBTQ+ community. Finally, on September 6 2018, Section 377 of the penal code was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Although this was a small success for the LGBTQ+ community, there are still many legal problems that persist. For example, in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that self-determination of gender identity was a right and that transgender people should be recognized as a third gender and enjoy fundamental rights. However, a November 2019 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill left much of the transgender community unsatisfied. A big problem with the bill was that it mandated a legal certification procedure for gender recognition. An individual had to apply for a legal “transgeder” certificate, which would legally identify them as transgender. However, if a transgender male, for example, wants to identify as male, he must show proof of a sexual reassignment surgery from a hospital. Thus, the bill basically forces transgender individuals to get surgery (that can be physically, financially, and mentally overwhelming) before recognizing their identity, and it goes against the self-determination right that was put forth in the 2014 bill.
Although the bill prohibits discrimination and criminalizes physical abuse against transgender people, these clauses are not specific and the penalty for abusing a transgender person is less severe than abusing a cisgender person. There are also no quotas set up in terms of employment or public education, which was something that the 2014 bill pushed for. Furthermore, these different transgender bills are vague in including different transgender communities like intersex people, who are born with genitalia or chromosomes that do not fit into either binary sex, and the hijra community, who have been around since ancient Indian times and have unique customs and rituals that come from Hindu mythology.
While these bills have made some strides in the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, they also fragment the community by giving some more rights than others, and they lack specific clauses that protect the LGBTQ+ community from violence and discrimination in many spheres of life. To this day, civil rights such as marriage, adoption, social security benefits, and many more, are lacking for the LGBTQ+ community. On top of this, the systematic discrimination and violence against people of the community continues to exist with doctors, employers, schools, police, and inside homes.
Politicians in India do not have an assertive stance towards changing these realities, and this is in large part due to the socio-cultural norms that are against the LGBQT+ community. There is a long way to go in terms of protecting the safety and rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and it begins with proper education and action. Find and support your local or national LGBTQ+ supporting organizations, sign petitions, and make sure your loved ones who may be in the community are safe. Socio-cultural norms become part of a nation’s mentality, but that is something we can change as the generations go by: YOU can be a part of that change by being educated, supportive, and accepting.
Why Is inclusivity in gender and sexuality so important?
The discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ+ community is a matter of basic human rights. Homophobia and transphobia (the irrational hatred, fear, or intolerance against homosexual or transgender people) creates direct threats to the safety of the millions of people in India who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Due to the high rates of rejection, violence, and discrimination from their own homes and employers, people in the LGBTQ+ community suffer disproportionately high of rates of depression, suicide, homelessness, unemployment, and drug abuse. They also face disproportionately high rates of sexual and physical violence, which many times will go unreported for fear of the consequences of homophobia or transphobia.
Additionally, this stigma causes HIV to affect the LGBTQ+ community in a much more severe way than others because of the lack of access to proper resources and HIV treating services, and because members of the community have to turn to sex work in order to survive. This violence, discrimination, and exclusion from the safety and fundamental rights of being a person is detrimental to too many lives every day. We must all work together to become more educated and understanding, so we can combat against the societal forces that allow these issues to persist.