LGBTQ history in India
[23] 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 homosexual inclination, who renounce women and can do without them willingly because they love one another, get married together, bound by a deep and trusting friendship.
"[22] The Arthashastra, a 2nd century BCE Indian treatise on statecraft, mentions a wide variety of sexual practices which, whether performed with a man or a woman, were sought to be punished with the lowest grade of fine.
"The inquisition record states that Alberto, induced by devil, committed the ‘horrible and abominable vice of sodomy’ since he was 16 years old, habitually with many men, also while he was serving in the North (Portuguese Bombay) as well as many cities where he lived and when he was sent in the army of Malacca too.
"[32] In 1667 or 1675, the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri of the Mughal Empire mandated a common set of punishments for homosexuality, which could include 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, or death by stoning for a Muslim.
Ruth Vanita, Saleem Kidwai, p 119, Same-sex love in India: readings from literature and history also asserts that Mir's poetry "represents homoeroticism" and that he, along with others, "developed a discourse of erotic commentary on young males.
Cross-dressing was normal in the indigenous culture in India, but since this did not fit the moral standards of sexuality of Brits and due to the ambiguity of Section 377, Khairati was arrested and prosecuted in court.
Manohar duly informs the narrator that Ramesh is Dinkar's chocolate – the object of his romantic-erotic affections – before launching on a tirade to deride his same-sex desire: "He'll sift through history, finish off the Puranas, and prove to you that love of boys is not unnatural but natural."
Talking about Ghazals he describes the depiction of homosexuality in poetry across time and cultures in the works of Sappho and Socrates, Saadi and Hafiz, Shakespeare and Whitman.
[44] The ABVA was an activist group, with its original intent being spreading awareness regarding AIDS in India, as they opposed the intolerant practices and discrimination of the Indian government against HIV positive patients.
[44] The reason for this as stated by Kiran Bedi, the then Inspector General of Prisons in India, was the fact that the distribution of condoms would acknowledge and accept the existence of homosexual practices in the jail.
In 1997, Lawyer and activist Arvind Narrain student at the National Law School of Banglore, headed a seminar on LGBTQ rights discussing queerness in new and public settings.
In 1999, Sonali Gulati made a short film titled "Sum Total", a lesbian matrimonial that addresses issues of identity, self-representation, and hetronormativity The Friendship Walk is the first and oldest pride march in India and South Asia.
[65] The walk ended with both groups meeting at the George Bhavan where all the participants were interviewed by the media, as they shared their views on the issue of rejection of Homosexuality and sexual/gender non-conformity in India.
In 2001, Naz Foundation (India) Trust, a non-governmental organization, filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court in 2001, seeking the legalisation of homosexual intercourse between consenting adults.
[69] In 2006, a 24-year-old gay man Hiren Makwana, a community organiser in an NGO, Counterpart International India (CII), at Bodakdev, was murdered over intimate relationships and financial disputes.
Gay International contest, said that he was apprehensive about returning to India stating "Indian media has exposed me so much that now when I call my friends back home, their parents do not let them talk to me".
[82] Also in 2011, 24-year-old Mahesh Soni, who had appeared on a reality show on television and admitted that he was homosexual and liked to wear a saree, committed suicide hanging from the ceiling fan at his Malwani residence.
[83] On 16 February 2012, the Supreme Court, during a hearing of a bunch of appeals filed against decriminalisation of gay sex, observed that homosexuality should be seen in the context of changing society as many things which were earlier unacceptable have become acceptable with the passage of time.
The two-judge bench, composed of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya, opined that homosexuality should be seen in the light of changing times where phenomena of live-in relationships, single parents and artificial fertilisation have become normal.
Earlier, the Supreme Court bench had asked the anti-gay rights groups, challenging the legalisation of homosexual sex to explain how such acts are against the order of nature as submitted by them.
[86] In June 2012, a guide titled 'Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBT Employees in India' was developed by IBM, Goldman Sachs, and Google together with Community Business, a non-profit organization.
In November 2015, Indian Author Siddharth Dube published his memoir No One Else: A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex sharing his time as a childhood as gay and effeminate in 1970s Calcutta and coming out to his father in 1984.
[109] In March 2020, TV9 Marathi telecasted a show called Arogyam Dhanasampada – Sexual Problems and Solutions with guest speaker, Sanjay Shetye, a clinical psychologist.
U.S. based Kodava organisation published a statement that marriage is a personal choice.Dosanjh told HT that he and Puttichanda bonded over their Indian culture, shared values, and how both overcame day-to-day challenges.
[119] In the same year, a 22-year-old LLB student, Yash Rastogi, of Jagriti Vihar in Meerut, went missing after he left to meet the main accused, Shavez, at his workshop in Fatehullapur area on the evening of 26 June.
[122] The LGBTQ people who have been abused as a child and adult years restain to report complaint in the police station because of phobia and lack of proper law facility.
Even though, Indian Psychiatric Society and World Health Organization have repeatedly warned that sexual orientations are natural and normal, corrective rape culture is promoted in India.
Later, in 2020, the Kerala Government sanctioned an amount of 23.34 lakhs to Adam to support his dream of flying by getting him enrolled in the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology in Thiruvananthapuram.
Adam filed a petition to which the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment calls to the DGCA that its decision to deny a transgender person a commercial pilot licence was discriminatory.
