It’s another September 6. Two years have passed since the colonial Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalises homosexuality was scrapped by the Supreme Court of India. The historic 2018 verdict legalised consensual sex between adults in a private space, declaring that love is no longer a crime.
The apex court reading down the 157-year-old law that penalises people for their sexual orientation has since empowered queer community members to come out of the closet fearlessly, fight the stigma and lead a life of dignity.
On the second anniversary of the judgement, the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersexed, Asexual and Ally) community and activists look back at the journey and check how matters have changed over these two years.
Identity acknowledgement
“Acceptance has increased in society. We can proudly tell everyone about our identity. No longer do we have to hide from the world about our marital status. People have started acknowledging our identity,” say Nikesh and Sonu, the first Malayali gay couple to get married, though not legally.
“The stigma still prevails, and the misconceptions too. Relentless awareness programmes need to be conducted to educate people that sexual identity is not something that can be ‘cured’ with treatments or misinformed methods,” says Nikesh, a businessman, who married Sonu, a techie, at a temple two months before their identity was accorded constitutional validity.
Muhammed Unais, the first openly gay Muslim from Kerala who fights homophobia and Islamophobia, feels that nothing much has changed since 2018. “The verdict scrapping Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has made many people confident to come out. Many couples have announced to the world their relationship, got married with support from society and family. Though the SC verdict came with an apology and was historic for several reasons, it has only stated that having sex is not a criminal offence. We are yet to be legally recognised in many realms unlike heterosexual community,” he says.
Change in public attitude
Rajashree Raju, a board member of Queerala, an LGBTQIA+ organisation in Kerala that has been proactively fighting for rights since 2017, observes a great improvement in public attitude since the judgement.
“The channels and platforms for queer activists to talk about our issues has definitely doubled. Educational institutions, corporates and media have shown interest in understanding the community better. This has reduced the fear and instilled confidence to a great extent in many same-sex couples to live their truths and sometimes even come out,” says Rajashree, who, last year, married Vihaan Peethambar, a trans-activist who is also a member of the recently-constituted National Council for Transgender Persons.
Voices never heard
Stressing that LGBTQIA+ is an umbrella term, Nikesh says that each community under the term faces a different set of issues which needs redressal. “Like all heterosexual persons and cispeople (people whose gender identity matches with their sex assigned at birth), we too have our rights. Transgender community, for instance, enjoys a better visibility in society as the government machinery acts towards empowering them. But there are persons who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersex, so on who are left in the lurch. Our voices are never heard, nor are our demands met,” complains Nikesh.
Unais considers himself blessed as he enjoys the support of his orthodox Muslim family. “I am lucky to have the love and consideration of my family, unlike many other queer community members. I have faced prejudice and stigma only outside the walls of my home – from teachers who suggest therapies, people who blamed and questioned my identity. Not everyone has had the privilege of family support. They undergo cruel treatments, conversion therapies and inhuman surgeries, especially intersex minors whose genitalia are surgically removed without their consent. All these needs to be legally banned and focus should increase on awareness.”
A bill with regressive provisions
Post the 2018 verdict, there have been a few progressive judgements where the High Courts in Kerala, Uttarakhand and Orissa quoted the Section 377 scrapping to allow same-sex couple to live together as partners who are in love.
But the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 that followed were full of regressive provisions for gender certification, apathy towards right to residence, failure in pushing for inclusivity in education, employment or politics.
Queerala and queer community welfare organisations like Sahayatrika and SAATHII had sent recommendations to the draft rules of the Trans Bill after consulting transgender persons in the state on the right to self-determine one’s gender and other demands.
Wrong practices
The toughest task ahead is to put an end to wrong practices like hormone therapy and forced surgeries.
Recalling the recent suicide of 21-year-old queer student Anjana Harish after she was allegedly subjected to the horrific conversion therapy, Rajashree says, “Queerala has launched a campaign against conversion therapy and is planning to move legally against such practices. We had registered a complaint with the State Mental Health Authority in June but to no avail. The only way ahead is to fight it out legally. We have the support from psychiatric and medical bodies. The illegality of these practices should be stressed and implemented.”
Queer movement has found many supporters, but complete acceptance has a long way to go. “Change should begin from family. The number of domestic violence cases against members of LGBTQIA+ communities have increased since the lockdown, as evident from the crisis calls we have been receiving. When we go to the police with such complaints against parents who inflict violence upon their queer children (who are aged 18 and above), the police dismiss us even if there are visible marks of physical violence, snubbing these as ‘family matters’,” says Rajashree.
Change, Unais suggests, should begin from popular culture. “Films, advertisements and literature should helm the awareness programmes. To increase queer visibility in movies, more queer persons have to join the crew of film makers. Movies are considered as reflection of society, whereas, in fact, its from movies that people pick up ideas. It’s time to reverse the process. Let regressive ideas on homosexuality be replaced by humane representation of real life. Acceptance is sure to follow,” says the queer activist, whose adolescent years were deeply scarred by misrepresentation of gay men in a popular Malayalam movie Chanthupottu.
Nikesh and Sonu have already moved the Kerala High Court to recognise same-sex marriages. Nikesh says, “The fight is on for civil rights to get married, to adopt and to opt for surrogacy, etc. Only one battle has been won; there are more wars to be fought with unity, determination and love.”
