India Repeals Anti-Gay Law.
The First Step in Equality.
I know I’m a bit behind, story of my life, but as some of you may have read India recently repealed its law that criminalized intercourse and carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, which ironically would probably have ended up in more anal sex than it would outside of prison.
For gay people in India, this is HUGE. They can finally be who they are without fear of legal consequences. They can love who they want to love, openly, without fear of being taken away from that person and locked up with criminals. This is beautiful.
But, see now, the thing is that actually the law is only a small percent of the problem. The law itself wasn’t actually that strictly enforced, but what it did do was perpetuate a way of thinking, a culture that being gay is wrong. Simply repealing the law doesn’t automatically change that. There isn’t a homophobia switch in people’s minds that automatically switches to ‘Off’ because the law has changed.
Don’t misunderstand, I think the change in law is fantastic and a massive leap forwards for better LGBTQ rights in India (although the Trans community needs much more attention), I just think the issue of homophobia runs much deeper. Of course, changing the law means that legally there aren’t any repercussions and takes away one aspect of the repression that Indian homosexuals face, but there are so many more that need addressing. Religion being a big one. Let’s hope this is the first step towards that.
I don’t for one second want to take away from how important this step is and it should most definitely be celebrated as an important move towards equality, that’s without doubt, however, I we need to remember how deep homophobia runs and we need to remember that just because we are lucky enough to live in a Western society that is more forward thinking and accepting (for the most part) it isn’t that way for everyone the world over and we should be campaigning for their rights as well as our own. They deserve it just as much as we do.
Here’s to India and their first step towards adding a rainbow to their flag. We are all behind you to keep pushing and fighting for true equality.
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