Queer Relationships: The Plea for Equality

Queer people, even in today’s modern world, struggle for acknowledgment. Despite providing a lot of exposure to break the taboo around LGBTQ+, our society still hasn’t warmed up to them. Even though our religious scriptures have instances of same-sex marriages, Indian society still considers relationships and marriages to be a heterosexual privilege and frowns upon the queer communities’ desire to form one. Not many people are aware, but King Bhagirath, who is worshipped for having brought Ganga from heaven to Earth, was born from the act of copulation between the two widows of King Dilip, who died without an heir.

The beautiful Khajuraho temple in MP attracts many tourists from all over the world. The temple is considered as an important source of art and culture. The carvings on the wall of the temple contain several sexual themes and poses of sexual relationships, not just between men and women but women and women as well. The temple built during the Chandella dynasty depicts that homosexuality was prevalent and accepted well during ancient times. Similar temple art can also be seen in the 13th-Century Sun Temple in Konark in the eastern state of Odisha and Buddhist monastic caves at Ajanta and Ellora in the western state of Maharashtra. In the Valmiki Ramayana, Hanuman is said to have seen Rakshasa women kissing and embracing other women. History is filled with other such instances, but our society continues to ignore them because it interferes with their idea of an ideal world.

As a country, we are living in paradoxes. Our constitution safeguards us against discrimination and provides for equality, but society and politics deny it. Why has the government taken it upon themselves to deny a relationship between two consenting adults? 9 years after the Delhi HC had decriminalized homosexual acts, the SC again hears the matter because of objections raised by political parties and religious groups. In one of the hearings of the case, the Solicitor General defended Centre’s stand against same-sex marriages by saying that if today they give consent to this, tomorrow people will ask for legalisation of incestuous relationships. This statement is a clear reflective of how insensitive people are when it comes to understanding the LGBTQ+ community. The question of morality has been tied to queer existence since its inception. What has led to this change in the Court’s narrative? Have the courts of law started to function on the ruling party’s ideology? Who will protect the interests of the common man? Are his rights of equality, a life of dignity, and privacy no longer prevalent?

The first same-sex marriage in modern India is said to have been between two women police officers, Urmila Srivastava and Leela Namdeo. But as soon as this news got out, both women were dismissed from the police service and even imprisoned. There wasn’t a lot of awareness about these relationships back then, but 3 decades later, people are now coming out and proudly embracing their sexuality. The world around us is evolving, but our society is still not ready to keep up with the changing times. And this is what political parties and hate groups focus on. They target a vulnerable section who lack knowledge and acceptance about homosexuality and convince them that same-sex relationships are against the nature of the law and should be banned.

Same-sex marriage has been a topic that has sparked both emotional and political clashes between supporters and opponents for years. People need to broaden the horizons of their minds and accept every person’s way of living. Marriage is a societal concept and shouldn’t be tied to religion. Homosexual relationships should be given the same respect as heterosexual relationships. India has the most significant LGBTQ+ population in the world, and it’s high time we have proper laws in place to protect the queer groups’ right to decide how and who they want to live with. We shouldn’t let the political parties define our sense of right and wrong. Decriminalization alone isn’t sufficient to ensure a community is safeguarded and freed from widespread discrimination, but it’s a first step in the right direction.