Homophobia in India

Even though homosexuality is made legal in India. The mindset behind the section 377 isn’t going away.

The kind of homophobia that has existed in India for the longest time isn’t what it is like in western countries. It isn’t considering it disgusting or unnatural, which some people do, or regarding it as a sin. It is the sheer ignorance of its existence. Older generations did not even know that being attracted to the same gender was and is possible. The verdict started a conversation in many households and a lot of them ended at rather undesirable notes.

The funny thing about homophobia in India is that isn’t organic. Before Britain invaded and colonized India, homosexuality and gender fluidity were widely accepted. But they introduced section 377, and because of that, conservative Indians now consider homosexuality to be “sanskriti ke khilaaf”.

Most of the younger generation accepts and respects homosexuality. But the rest of that generation and the other generations that aren’t accepting of it refuse to even engage in discussions about it. The community itself and the allies of the community have taken charge and are engaging in active discussions to deal with the homophobia that is widely prevalent in India, but given the culture that exists in India, which actively considers correcting or disagreeing with elders disrespectful, it becomes a tad bit more difficult to do away with homophobia when the majority of homophobia exists in the older generation.