LGBT rights and that curious Indian sense of outrage

The newspapers tell me that the Supreme Court of India has struck a blow against LGBT rights today. My meagre understanding of the situation is as follows: Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalizes homosexuality. This is, of course a remnant from the Colonial era. This law was ruled unconstitutional by the Delhi High Court in (I believe) 2009. I am not sure whether that ruling de-criminalized homosexuality in the entire country or merely in the Delhi/New Delhi region - but it was an important milestone in the struggle for LGBT rights. Well, after that decision (much applauded by the LGBT community - still largely afraid to venture out of the closet), the Supreme Court was petitioned to overturn the verdict of the lower court - and here we are after four years or so - it has done just that. Now we are back to square one - being gay in India could send you to jail for upto 10 years.

Let me point out something of interest in this morass. India is (obviously) a country with several distinct religious groups - often at odds with one another. In fact, the leaders of different religions in India almost never agree on a single thing. Almost. The news reports that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Apostolic Churches Alliance, the Jamat-e-Islaami Hind and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee have all spoken out against LGBT rights. Isn't it wonderful that we have finally found at least one thing to unite these religions and their disparate views? I get all misty eyed thinking of that happy future when Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh will stand shoulder to shoulder whilst throwing stones at gay people in public squares. Repeat after me -  A united India is a strong India!

But why this idiocy? Why this throwback to antiquated laws? Let us try to drill down and provide an answer. No mincing  words about this - a small fraction of the population has always been gay/bisexual. And we have always had transgendered people among us. Travel along a long distance train anywhere in India (via 2nd class, of course) and at some point a bunch of transgendered panhandlers will get on. In India, we call them hijiras. They may entertain you with song - you may give them some alms - they move on. Or you could hold tight to your wallet and not make eye contact - at which point, they sense your discomfort and embarrass you into giving them more than you otherwise would have. This is one of the few ways by which an average Indian might encounter people of alternative sexuality.

Look - here is the thing - we Indians are always very cognizant of societal rights. Individual rights - well, not so much. Our Constitution has some rigorously defined freedoms and rights guaranteed to the individual. In practice, however, these rights are frequently trivialized. The group comes first. The person, afterward. Note that this is not without its benefits - very real and tangible ones. Indian families tend to be cohesive and seniors are respected and cared for (the fact that a disproportionate share of the effort involved in keeping such a family unit humming is borne by the women is for another post). However, this leads to a situation in which the pressure to conform is rather intense. Indians make good cogs in the machinery of the world - but we have produced somewhat less numbers of Einsteins and H.H Holmes. 

Sexual preferences stand at the very heart of personal freedoms. And regulating sexual behaviour is somehow part of the manifesto of every major religious organization. The old 'close your eyes and think of England' process works to create a strange sense of outrage when confronted with behaviour that veers from the norm. Outrage comes easily to Indians: anything that threatens the sanctity of "family", in fact anything that even slightly rocks the boat is easily demonized in our collective thoughts. From pointing fingers, it is but a short step to casting stones. Throw in a lifted pickup truck and the Stars 'n Bars and you are in Rush Limbaugh land. 

For being the people that gave the world the Kama Sutra, we Indians suffer from a strange kind of schizophrenia. For all this talk about gender equality and the many, many laws in place to protect women against dowry demands and so on - the fundamentals are somewhat misshapen. Why is our country so frequently in the news for horrific sexual crimes? Our gender ratio is horrifically lopsided. The only countries with even more skewed demographics are ones with populations far below one tenth that of India. And Pakistan. Pakistan is slightly worse off. Way to go, guys!

Facing the facts: our treatment of women is mostly awful. Yes, things change as you look toward the more prosperous, urban Indians - but we exchange ( a small amount of ) misogyny for (a great deal of ) truly perverse class snobbery. Our treatment of people of alternate sexuality  is appalling. We have worked hard to remove them from the societal mainstream. The recent judgment by the Supreme Court is a cop out - and act of cowardice. For the last couple of decades - people have been increasingly disillusioned with the lawmakers (recent developments like the AAP are of great interest - but time will tell..). The judicial system, especially the apex court has been a force for the public good. Ruling IPC/377 as constitutional just lobs the ball over to  the Parliament. The Supreme Court of India has shown that it bows to the wishes of a strident religious front. We don't really expect the Parliament to be any different. This is a sad day.