Yesterday I watched The Big Fight on NDTV (on decriminalising Article 377), and I was absolutely amazed at the level of homophobia which was being showcased on prime-time television by some of the participants. In addition to the usual bluster about gays needing to be redeemed through religious compassion, and about Bharatiya Sanskriti, what caught my attention was some of the other points being bandied about..like scrapping 377 would lead to pedophilia, spread of venereal diseases, brothels in every corner and what not. They all made it seem like a disease or at best a habit that one can kick off with enough counseling. OH and I made another discovery yesterday, that lesbianism isn't a crime in India, in the sense 'unnatural offences' were in 377, simply because the British in the 19th century couldn't imagine that such acts could take place between two women as well..
But anyways, I think we Indians are intolerant in nature, intolerant of anyone who doesn't live his/her life in the prescribed format of the society
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