Fridae

What a fantastic day for ALL Indians! The Dehli High Court has shown backbone by pushing the great nation of India into the 21st century! Where are you Singapore on repealing 377A? Are we still a tiny nation with a small mindset on this social issue? Show some backbone and leadership and stop hiding behind the veil of upholding 'asian values'. Singapore can never truly be a world-class global city state if it isn't progressive on gay rights. By keeping 377A and making it a crime for two consenting adults of the same sex to do what they please in the bedroom is a crime in itself!

India did it, but why not Malaysia and Singapore? Well, I think it’s not fair to make comparison, bearing in mind that India’s LGBTI situation may be very different from that of Malaysia and Singapore for example, in that the gay community in India has been perpetually persecuted by law enforcement officers, of all people, who should have been their protectors, even to the point of being anally and orally raped and dehumanized, all because gay sex is illegal under Section 377 of the Indian penal code. It is partly due to such gross exploitation of a sexual minority that led the Delhi High Court to rule in favour of decriminalization of consensual same-sex acts between adults in private. It is an irony that the enforcers of this law engage in sodomy themselves in the full sense of the word which involves sexual violence, while those they arrested and charged have only been involved in consensual sex without hurting anyone. How much more hypocritical can they get? Moreover, the social stigma attached to gay people under Sec 377 has prevented many MSM’s from coming forward to get tested for HIV for fear of being stigmatized and persecuted once they disclose their MSM activities. This increases the rate of HIV transmission as those who might be HIV+ are deprived of the counseling and treatment they need in order to curb the spread of the virus. That’s why NGOs such as Naz Foundation have been lobbying so hard to have Section 377 repealed once and for all. Eight long years of agitation have finally paid off! It’s certainly a breath of fresh air for Delhi’s LGBTI community. Let’s hope that the rest of India will catch on as her people begin to wake up and take the issues of human rights and equality more seriously.

This is truly exhilarating news for Asia. While the victory most squarely belongs to Indian LGBTs, it is also a testimony to the continued strength of India's public institutions, already the strongest in Asia. It exposes Singapore's politicians for the comedians that they are who are bent on making a mockery of our public institutions. Unlike in Singapore, there were no major spats in India over the rule of law, constitutionalism, secularism, democracy, the role of the courts and their independence from the Executive, and a host of other issues that should already have been settled. It is a proud moment for me too that this has taken place in the country that is my cultural homeland. I guess Jai Hind (Victorious India) should now be recast as Gay Hind!

AZTLAN_OZ, Of course people should be responsible about AIDS, it has little to do with "squalid lifestyles of homosexuals", in the West or anywhere else; lifestyles are as varied amongst gays as anyone else. It has to do with unprotected sex. One of the main reasons for pursuing this case was to enable the fight against AIDS to be more effective, to enable reach-out and education on the subject. They already have a crisis because they (MSM) are driven underground and educators and NGOs trying to reach them have been arrested and harassed. It's such a shame that you ruin a potentially good point about responsible (i.e. safe) sexual behaviour by lacing it with the poison of homophobia and racism. In fact your aim wasn't to advise Indian gays at all, but simply to make a gratuitous homophobic and racist remark, as you often do. Try to see the positive side occasionally. This is a really good thing for gays, for the fight against AIDS, and, as expressed by the Judges, for India as a whole. You are just behaving like a Mexican crab.

YAY! We live in a world of wonderful possibilities, now one wishes the Indian gay bois don't ruin their coming freedom by emulating the squalid life styles of western homosexuals, all of Asia’s eyes will be on them, spreading AIDS so carelessly & indiscriminately in India like in the west will not enhance the ability of Gay rights groups in other oppressed countries to use India as a positive example of Gays acting responsibly

sorry guys, I tried to delete #20 and replace it by #21 but it doesn't work. Didn't mean to flood the board with various versions !

People have different views on this, even if the Delhi High Court should have agreed that it's against their policy of being inclusive which is in the Indian Constitution. (please be advised that their entire constitution is the longest written constitution in the world if you wish to read it) However, in the second video, the VC of the State Minorities is saying that he'll support it, but he won't agree with it personally. Well, that'll do for me.

ajs I understand your enthusiastic reaction, but you also have to ask yourself why this "outdated" law managed to linger on for such a long time in Indian society, all the way until 2009. When independance finally arrived in India it was huge, and in the midst of such great turmoil many English things were happily and RAPIDLY discarded, so why not the rigid attitude towards sex in general and homosexuality in particular ? Like it or not, Section 377 must have somehow echoed something that was there in Indian society, willing to merge with Victorian cork-up-the-ass laws and find itself a legal form of sorts. I do not think homophobia is strictly a Victorian aberration, though of course I only wish it was, because that would mean the end of the tunnel can't be that far for gays all over the planet. Not so... See for instance how homophobic Russia was under Stalin... and how it still is... how complicated the Chinese attitude is towards gays... how terrifying the laws in Iran etc etc Change countries, change cultures, religions, time... but that old demon is almost always there under one form or another. Again if we could reduce homophobia to a Victorian aberration, it would be great, but it simply isn't true.

Watch 2nd video in which the State Minority Vice-Chairman gets grilled for his "men and women are created by god" therefore "gay relations are useless as they don't end up anywhere" views. And the host retorts: "Are you in the 21st century or? You're sounding a bit archaic..." Hehehe

ajs I understand your enthusiastic reaction, but you also have to ask yourself why this "outdated" law managed to linger on for such a long time in Indian society. When independance finally arrived it was huge, and in the midst of that great turmoil many English things were happily discarded, so why not the rigid attitude towards sex in general and homosexuality in particular ? Like it or not, Section 377 must have somehow echoed something that was there in Indian society, willing to merge with Victorian cork-up-the-ass laws and find itself a legal form of sorts. I do not think homophobia is strictly a Victorian aberration, though of course I only wish it was, because that would mean the end of the tunnel can't be that far for gays all over the planet. Not so...

Fabulous! Great! Wonderful news! I hope we can read the same news regarding Singapore soon. These beautiful countries must get rid of the old stupid homophobic british law.

Dear Vikram, Although the centerstage is the legality judgement, there are no words to express gratitude people like you , Ashok Row Kavi of Naaz foundation and many others who have been patiently, dilgently working against all odds to get to this stage. Thank you all so much. More power to the entire community on this !!

I cant, but feel proud, joyous and ecstatic in my country taking this lead. Although far from being granted "liberties" like elsewhere, this atleast is a step in the right direction. The past few days, this has been the centerstage of media and its heartening to say the least, to see people talking and discussing this more openly (for right or wrong reasons) Section 377 is a hand-me-down from the British raj. It is rooted in Victorian sensibilities, which are an anomaly in our social milieu, past and present. Homosexuality as an aberration of nature is not a view upheld in our socio-cultural tradition. It is only seen as such by some because they now view homosexuality through borrowed lenses. Hope this augurs changes in other South Asian communities..

Congratulations to Naz, their persistence paid off. Good to see this unjust old law being eliminated. Am looking forward to reading what looks like an impressive judgement. There are still some great judges around.

i thought the subject was "bruno" lol but if you're talking about Thailand, then i will just add that on the other side of the coin, let's not forget that there are those, especially from the rural areas, both children and young men who are not "underaged", who are drawn or pushed into the world of "love"-for-sale by poverty. some of these faceless kids are still dying of Aids, not aid. perhaps there are true love stories that cover a multitude of sins in Bangkok, and there may be cases where the prey turns predator, but i don't know of any places in the West where so many young boys or men of little education and sophistication, have had to sell their bodies, and at times their dignity, for a few US dollars.... it's easy to philosophise when you have so many choices... (btw, while we're digressing, has anyone seen Radiohead's video on Youtube highlighting the exploitation of "child" labour in the apparel industry in the East? maybe they should do one on the sex trade...)

I think the parallel drawn between gay-ness and Chinese-ness is an interesting one, a bit generic and definitely less than accurate, but nevertheless interesting. It gives us an opportunity to view homosexuality issues (not homosexuality per se, since i believe that sexuality is categorically unique) in another perspective - in terms of the social repercussions of being homosexual, prejudice and well, minority pride. I think Dr. Tan watered down the academic references in his article. I think his entire experience is one of forthcoming and unashamed Self-Orientalization. This cultural phenomenen is, to be put simply, the conscious and motivated self-recognition (and evincement) of one's own culture (in this case, Chinese roots) when thrown into a context where one's identity is, as a cultural whole, being undermined. It sounds wrong but its not, its simply just a suggestion to why Chinese people might turn to cheongsam in the US when they didn't even wear it in Shanghai. The catch? By doing so, you are simply still subscribing to Western standards. So the West still "wins". In short, in the school of Orientalism , the East never wins. Think of it as, say, when your ex ditched you and then asks u out a year later- if you go, you sound desperate ; if you don't, you sound spiteful. Now lets go back to the gay context : Some of us think gay pride is unnecessary, because by doing so, we have alienated ourselves. Like lotsofcoffee has pointed out in #6. Which fits the whole i-win-if-i-don't-care. The other camp is one that believes gay pride is necessary, for now. Read #15. But what does Dr. Tan think? (since we ARE commenting on HIS article). He says he is "damn proud" of being gay for the same reasons why he was proud of being chinese - because he was stigmatized. Sure, the silly people who try to "make" themselves caucasian are downright repugnant. But to judge a person because he can't pronounce "Chong Kee" and having a ranking system for friends really doesn't seem like the way out for us. Because we are assuming that everyone is acting as a result of an informed decision. My girl friend told me once jokingly "hey don't flirt with my boyfriend okay? " after I came out to her. If i were to pull off a Dr. Tan on her, I would be saying goodbye to a friend who was there for 6 years. People stereotype. Even people who claim to be all-embracing. Its a way of bonding and self-recognition. As long as its harmless, why not work on the perpetuator. Educate and not blow people off at every remark they make. #12 makes a very good point. Viewing ourselves in totality. Lets not start dissecting ourselves and standing up for every individual facet of our identity. Its not that simple. Should I love that pro-Chinese but homophobic friend? Or that gay-friendly one who cheats with the whole world? Gay pride is necessary only because : 1) as #15 said, our pride is not yet reflected in terms of legislative rights and social recognition. 2) too many of our people suffer from self-homophobia and an ego deficit which was the result of our oppressive surroundings. Think of gay pride as not a +, but what we need to make our negativity reach a neutral "0". Maybe "pride" reminds of self-aggrandization and glorification and strutting out in heels and makeup, screaming, "IM GAY and IM HERE TO STAY!" . But i would like to think of the "pride" in the term "gay pride" as something profound, something which doesn't (only) thrive on outward exertions but inward reflection and soul-searching. Pride, as in, self-acceptance and love for one as a whole. Not pride as in blaming people for your own problems and refusal to admit that we, as a person and as a community, have our flaws. The article is a little bit loosely written. Can't quite grasp the core message. But Dr. Tan sorta brought up another interesting topic that didn't quite get the attention of us readers : "Enemies" (why this bipolarization again) that lurk in the darkness. I wouldn't say that all people who can't accept gays are enemies. I would have to kill my parents then. But I get his point, that there are people who are subconsciously anti-gay but take on the liberal bias for one reason or another. I know a few girls who LOVE the gays and cannot stop talking bout their gay adventures but unwittingly let the cat out of their bag, when they say things like "Its okay. Everyone has their own perversions." To this buncha St. Neutrals, I say, we tread cautiously around them.

Just saw the film Gandhi again recently... I hope he would be proud to see yet another of Queen V's claws gently and politely, albeit firmly detached from Indian soil... but would he ? homophobia sometimes shows its sour face in unexpected places... and people.

Pride. No, we don't special treatment. But we deserve equal treatment. If heterosexual can get married, so can homomsexual people. If heterosexual people can bring their gfs/bfs/partners into work and declare it so, so can homosexual people. If heterosexual people can claim medical and dental benefits and paternity/maternity leave, so can homosexual people. When the day comes when people no longer assume my chosen partner is of a different sex, there is equality. That day, we won't need pride anymore. Cos we are equal. For as long as we are denied rights and opportunities because of our sexual orientation, we need pride, specifically gay pride. Because this patriachal and heterocentric world do not see us. We are invisible. There are 2 ways to react to oppression - to yield or to resist. To yield means, to have no pride. We are as the heterosexuals say we are - perverted, dirty, sinful, deprived. To resist takes more effort than to sit there and do nothing. Because more is needed to overcome prejudice and discrimination. And yes, I am proud I am gay, that I love someone of the same sex. Yes, that straight woman and man loves someone in their lives the same way and they don't have to shout it out loud. But I do. Cos their right to love is publicly acknowledged and affirmed. Mine isn't. it is invisible. When mine is publicly acknowledged and affirmed, that day, I don't need pride, I don't need to shout it to the world. Cos my pride is already reflected in society legally and socially. Until then, my brothers and sisters, PRIDE! Pity those who who do not understand, closeted and denied within their gay selves.

great. a milestone for LGBT India. but also we should be reminded that LGBT community in India should be more responsible too now that gay sex is on the road for being legalized.

Bravo Delhi ....bravo ...indeed any kind of discrimations IS discrimination ....whether it is discrimination based on skin, religion, sexuality , ability/inability, physical appearance or any type of minority groups ... Thus , all PLU out there ...we should protest against any form of discrimination NOT just to discrimination against PLU/LGBT !! Heal the world ...make it a better place ...for you and for me ....and the entire human race.