Hinduism and LGBTQ topics
[10] In the Manusmirti and the Arthashastra of Kautilya, homosexual contact is compared to having sex with menstruating woman, which is sinful and demands a purification ritual.
The Dharmashastras perceives advantage of conceiving sons by heterosexual marriage, the Dharmsastras are against non-vaginal sex like the Vashistha Dharmasutra.
[15] There have been cases of some Hindu priests performing same sex marriages in temples since the independence from colonialism, although the majority continue to oppose it.
"[20][21] Sexuality is rarely discussed openly in contemporary Hindu society, especially in modern India where homosexuality was illegal until a brief period beginning in 1860, due to colonial British laws.
[32] Deepa Mehta's 1996 film Fire, which depicts a romantic relationship between two Hindu women, was informally banned for "religious insensitivity"[33] after the screening of the movie was disrupted on the grounds that it denigrated Indian culture, not on the grounds of homophobia per se, a position shared and confirmed by feminist Madhu Kishwar.
Most of these marriages and suicides are by lower-middle-class female couples from small towns and rural areas across the country; these women have no contact with any LGBT movements.
Both cross-sex and same-sex couples, when faced with family opposition, tend to resort to either elopement and marriage or to joint suicide in the hope of reunion in the next life.
Vanita examines how Hindu doctrines such as rebirth and the genderlessness of the soul are often interpreted to legitimize socially disapproved relationships, including same-sex ones.
Psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar writes that Hindus are more accepting of "deviance or eccentricity" that are adherents of Western religions, who typically treat sexual variance as "anti-social or psychopathological, requiring 'correction' or 'cure'".
Hindus are generally conservative but it seems to me that in ancient India, they even celebrated sex as an enjoyable part of procreation, where priests were invited for ceremonies in their home to mark the beginning of the process.
In 2008, the state of Tamil Nadu recognised the "Third Gender"; with its civil supplies department giving in the ration card a provision for a new sex column as 'T', distinct from the usual 'M' and 'F' for males and females respectively.
Some homosexual Hindus also worship the gods Mitra and Varuna, who are associated with two lunar phases and same-sex relations in ancient Brahmana texts.
The Hindu epic Mahabharata narrates that the hero Arjuna takes a vow to live as a member of the third sex for a year as the result of a curse he is compelled to honor.
Some versions of the Krittivasa Ramayana, the most popular Bengali text on the pastimes of Ramachandra (an incarnation of Vishnu), relate a story of two queens who conceived a child together.
Shiva, therefore, appeared before the king's two widowed queens and commanded them, "You two make love together and by my blessings, you will bear a beautiful son."
[56] People of a third gender (tritiya-prakriti), not fully men nor women, are mentioned here and there throughout Hindu texts such as the Puranas but are not specifically defined.
In their accompanying analytical essays, they also wrote that Hindu texts have discussed and debated same-sex desire from the earliest times, in tones ranging from critical to non-judgmental to playful and celebratory.
It was compiled by the philosopher Vatsyayana around the 4th century, from earlier texts, and describes Third gender practices in several places, as well as a range of sex/gender 'types'.
[59] The Second Part, Ninth Chapter of Kama Sutra specifically describes two kinds of men that we would recognize today as masculine- and feminine-type homosexuals but which are mentioned in older, Victorian British translations as simply "eunuchs.
In the "Jayamangala" of Yashodhara, an important twelfth-century commentary on the Kama Sutra, it is also stated: "Citizens with this kind of inclination, can do without them willingly because they love one another, get married together, bound by a deep and trusting friendship.
[63] A mature woman having sex with a maiden girl was punished by having her head shaved or two of her fingers cut off, and she was also made to ride on a donkey.
174 prescribes eating the five products of the cow or Panchagavya and foregoing food for a night for several sexual acts committed by a man including those with other men.
Such texts demonstrate that third-sex terms like sandha and napumsaka actually refer to many different types of "men who are impotent with women," and that simplistic definition such as "eunuch" or "neuter" may not always be accurate and in some cases totally incorrect.
In his article Homosexuality and Hinduism, Arvind Sharma expresses his doubt over the common English translation of words like kliba into "eunuch" as follows: "The limited practice of castration in India raises another point significant for the rest of the discussion, namely, whether rendering a word such as "kliba" as "eunuch" regularly is correct..."[69] The Arthashastra of Kautilya represents the principle text of secular law and illustrates the attitude of the judiciary towards sexual matters.
[67] The digest or dharmanibandha work "Dandaviveka'" written by Vardhamana Upadhyaya in 15th century in Mithila pronounced that semen shouldn't ejaculate outside the vagina.
There are an estimated half million crossdressing "eunuchs" in modern-day India, associated with various sects, temples and Hindu deities.
[80] A Gandharava was a low ranking male deity who had a symbolic association with fine and creative arts, specifically music, with strong connections to sexuality and procreation, and the term is etymologically linked to "fragrance", and these males are commonly pared with females called "Apsaras" who are associated with the arts, dancing and literature.
[83] Hinduism is mostly devoid of the 'perfect law' that can be found in Abrahamic religions (such as the ten commandments) and traditionally Hindus would expect to "rely on reason to decide what is dharma and what is not" 'dharma'.
Combined with the lack of centralization and authority, there is great diversity among Hindus as to how homosexual relationships should be institutionalized in Hindu society.
[84] A long-running tradition concerning non-binary marriage exists in Hindu society for third genders, which may also add another perspective as to how homosexual relationships should be viewed in the modern age.
