September 6, 2018, has become one of the most iconic and path breaking days in Indian history. On that day, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which recognized all sexual activities “against the order of nature” as illegal, was read down. It was a day we could celebrate for the whole month of June, which has globally been dedicated to the LGBTQ community. Pride Month.
But if we scratch through the layers of this provision and go deep down, like really down, we will find the ugly reality that still exists for the LGBTQ community. The law recognizes homosexuality as legal, but not everything legal is moral. Well, not according to our society. According to our society’s theory of morality, regardless of the consequences of an act some acts are always considered bad. Homosexuality is one of those acts.
As a democratic nation, India has come a long way. But is it really a democracy, when an entire section of society with an orientation that might not match with the majority is still frowned upon? It is not “natural” for a man to love a man, or woman to love a woman, or for a person to love both or neither. The only question that comes to my mind is: What is “natural”, or “normal” for that matter? Who decides that? What is the criteria for evaluation?
A couple of weeks ago, I was having this discussion with my mother on why people still look down upon the LGBTQ community. She said, and I quote, “Beta, this all, it’s not natural. God has made an order in which men and women are supposed to be together and not the other way around. They are breaking the laws of nature.” This statement made me so mad, and we had a heated argument over this and stopped speaking to each other for over a week.
But then I stopped and thought for a minute, why would she think like that? Why does anybody else for that matter? The answer is simple. Because our brains have been wired like that from the very beginning. We have been trained to think that what does not match with our choices is obviously wrong.
We have been wired to recognize the male-female relationship as “natural” and anything else is against the laws of GOD. What people fail to see and fathom is that “natural” is a relative concept. It is highly subjective. It changes from person to person, society to society. There are no absolute truths about the concept of natural. So, when straight people indulge in sexual relationships with the opposite sex, it is natural for them. But so too is it natural for a gay person to seek someone of the same gender. It is natural for a bisexual person to be attracted to two genders!
What is the need of the hour is to ensure queer people have what is rightfully theirs. I believe they don’t need to be recognized as an entirely different community, but be mingled with ours. Don’t think outside the box and do something extraordinary. Instead, stretch your box wide enough to make room for everyone.
The ultimate truth of “nature”, I believe, is that God created people, and not their sexual orientation. I mean do you really think that the creator of the universe has so much spare time on hands to sit and make algorithms for who should have sex with whom? I highly doubt that.
So for all the people using their right to self-expression to show hatred for the LGBTQ community, I would like to quote one of the greatest singers of our time, “You need to calm down, you are being too loud.”