LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy in India: Why we must Disregard it Immediately
It is 2021, and we are tending towards progression, but we are still very much struggling in the most literal sense.
In May 2020, a 21-year-old bisexual named Anjana Harish died of suicide as they forced her to convert and cure herself of her deviant sexuality. The primary phrase of calling someone’s sexuality ‘deviant’ is an ideology imported by the British and has been stemming and spreading like an invisible parasite in the name of ‘Indian traditions and culture.’ Anjana Harish posted a video online before her unfortunate death, describing how they made her succumb to conversion therapy by her family members in her home state, Kerala.
On 6th September 2018, homosexuality under Section 377 got decriminalized. I vividly remember the waving flags, glitter, and colors. It was a mammoth of a celebration and a marking of a decade. It is interesting to state that the very crux of the law says that two people of the same sex may indulge in consensual sexual conduct. Still, conversion therapy has been a hidden contradicting controversy for years.
However, India has been facing a sustained backlash due to the omnipresence of conversion therapy. This topic of discussion is very close to my heart as I have experienced pandits and priests preaching towards a certain fixing. There was a significant point in my life when I believed that anything deviant from heterosexual relationships is a disease and stemmed from pre-existing conditioning.
I recently spoke to two of my friends from the LGBT+ community. “From the legal perspective the country will take some time to criminalize the issue. India has to take measures step by step,” Arya Senapati said, identifying himself as gay.
The genesis of conversion therapy happened when British rule took place. In their psychiatric understanding of homosexuality, the West held onto the ideology of deviant sexuality, and according to heteronormative principles, being abnormal enough needing a cure or a fix.
While speaking to the member from the LGBT+ community who recognizes herself as bisexual says, “I strongly believe that conversion therapy is a hoax and it nullifies someone’s experience,” Maheshwari mentioned strongly. I asked her if the fault lies in the laws or the society that are less aware of the atrocious practices. She says, “We need more stories and awareness and adult moral science classes to tell people how to have new morals. Our morals have been too linear for far too long now. Just like we are diverse, our principles, thought process, and morals should be diverse and not bound to what’s first written and preached by early humans who thought making laws made society better.”
In 2018, after India repealed the colonial-era law criminalizing homosexuality, it got recognized as not a mental disorder by the Indian Psychiatric Society. However, illegal practices within the psychiatry departments and hospitals still exist thoroughly.
In June, the Human Rights Council received a report on conversion therapy by a gender expert.
Implementing the research on hundred-odd countries that use conversion therapy, they interviewed 8,000 respondents who experienced it firsthand. About 98% of the reportage said that it caused them physical and psychological damage.
Currently, only five countries have a ban in place: Malta, Brazil, Taiwan, Ecuador, and Germany. The emphasis on heterosexual relationships remains a paramount factor to date. It is a combination of facts/figures and word of mouth that translates the LGBT+ community as a minor percentage compared to the cishet segment. The other perceptual translation is that reportage remains low due to constant oppression and widespread fear. They must disregard as soon as possible the unnerving invisible parasite so that society can factor itself into a more human place. “It’s sad how people get hopeful about being in a safe space, heartbreaking to see their insides fall apart right when they think everything is going to be alright. But someone pulls an atrocious stunt either way,” said Pallavi Shankar, who identifies herself as a lesbian.
