FACTS againest MYTHS V0L-VI-3-2000
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MYTHS
VIKAS ADHYAYAN KENDRA
Vol VI #3/2000
INFORMATION BULLETIN
Myths on Sexual Minorities -1
- Sanjukta Ghosh
‘Studying the history of[a] term challenges itspower.”
- Jonathan Ned Katz
and marginalising a section of the population
— the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered
communities.
COMMENT
he film ‘Tire” directed by Deepa Mehta
ignited a huge storm of protests by
different constituencies all over India.
Issues at stake were the freedom of expression,
censorship and democracy, artistic liberties and
rights, and the effect of mass media images.
T
But underlying these surface fights were
fundamental questions such
As:- what
constitutes
acceptable sexual behavior,
whether or not homosexuality
is a western import or a
pathology and whether or not
homosexuality is consonant
with what are deemed
“Indian” values, beliefs and
attitudes. In fact, the film
brought to the fore an
ideological war, one aimed at
defining
“Indianness,”
acceptable sexuality and
hegemonic femininity. The
tenor of the rhetoric of the
nation’s
self-appointed
morality police indicated that
this was an exclusionary war,
one aimed at disenfranchising
(
Though the gay rights movement (if it can be
called such) in India is a nascent one, any
discussion of it must be situated historically
within pre-Vedic, Vedic, Mughal, colonial and
post-colonial periods. Furthermore, it cannot be
divorced from a discussion on sexuality,
marriage, women’s issues, public-health
concerns and human rights.
I Although human sexuality
I has not been part of a
I comfortably accepted public
I discourse in modern India,
I this has not always been the
0 case. Indeed, the history of
I marginalisation and, indeed,
of
I criminalization
homosexuality
is
fraught
with
I
I foreign influences. Arguably,
is the coming of Islam that
I it
brought major changes in the
I sexual values of India, and
I the British occupation
I intensified the Puritanism.
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
I
I Practices that are today
I termed “homosexual sexual
I behavior” have always
existed in different forms and
in different cultures (Heyl 1989, Katz 1996,
Foucault 1978, Thadani 1996, Mukheijee in
Shah 1998). And at different times homosexual
sexual behavior has been approved of,
tolerated, and banned. By examining the
history of what has been permitted as socially
acceptable and unacceptable sexuality, one can
begin to uncover the way culture, tradition,
values and morals have been and continue to
be used as tools of oppression and
discrimination.
A Cross-Cultural Perspective
It is almost a cliche to say that human sexuality
is complex.
And, our attempts at
understanding and classifying it have been
simplistic at best and problematic at worst.
Though environmental and psychosocial
influences play important roles in shaping our
sexuality, homosexual sexual behavior seems
to be, to some extent, innate in all races and
cultures. However, the opportunities for
expressing this behavior or even a desire are
clearly regulated by cultural boundaries. The
ancient Middle East made a special place for
homosexuality in its myths and rites. The
biblical book of Leviticus (18:22-27) banned
homosexuality specifically because the
Canaanite population had been practicing those
rites (Boswell 2000).
In Melanesian societies, anthropologists have
noted that it is homosexual activities such as
fellatio between older men and young boys that
initiate the tribe’s male youngsters into
adulthood. Drinking the semen of older men
becomes a way of imbibing the strength and
wisdom of the elders (Herdt 1997). A similar
practice is seen among the Azandes of Zaire (the
present Democratic Republic of Congo) where
adolescents serve as “boy wives” to older men
(Evans-Pritchard 1978) and in Lesotho among
women of the Basotho tribe (Murray and
Roskam 1998).
Medieval Russia too was very tolerant of
homosexuality (Moss 1999). There is evidence
of homosexual love in some of the lives of the
saints from Kievan Rus dating to the 11th
century. Later in the 16th and 17th centuries,
foreign travel writers, such as George
Turberville, wrote about the open displays of
homosexuality among people of every class in
Muscovite Russia. In Islamic culture too, there
are several examples of homosexual themes in
literature and art from the homoerotic poems
of 13th century Persian poet Sadi Gulistan to
FACTS against MYTHS
the sexually explicit poems of Al-Andulus in
Muslim Spain, to the sexual comedy of The
Arabian Nights, and the ecstatic loving of Sufi
mystics (Halsall 1997).
Finally, within Judeo-Christian culture,
homosexuality was not perceived as sinful and
socially unacceptable until circa 1700.
According to Boswell, examples of this in history
are: age-dissonant sexual relations between
older men who would take a conventionally
“male” role in a sexual relationship with a
younger male; and gender-dissonant
relationships where “biological” males lived as
“non-males” throughout their lives.
In other words norms regarding sexuality are
certainly culture-specific, time-bound and tied
to religious laws. In every culture and society
throughout history, there are people who
attempt every anatomically possible form
sexual stimulation and gratification. The
difference in patterns of sexual expression
among societies derives from their history,
culture, present circumstances and power
relations. These factors also determine whether
their actual patterns of sexual behavior are
open or hidden.
Sexual Minority Rights
On the question of the rights of sexual
minorities, in India there are several groups
such as TARSHI and Stree Sangam in Delhi
or CEHAT at Andheri, Mumbai spearheading
the campaign for homosexual rights.
Historically, however, much of the impetus for
such activism has come from organizations
based in Europe and North America. This is so
because of similarities in objectives
organizing and institutional impediments. Ancr
though it took many decades for homosexuals
to organize themselves as a political force in the
West and make some legislative gains, we can
look to these nations to see the rights granted
to sexual minorities. (The factoids are taken
from wire service and newspaper reports).
In the Netherlands, same-sex couples have the
right to a legal marriage. They are entitled to
the same pension, social security, and
inheritance rights as all other married couples,
and allowed to adopt children. The country also
permits gays and lesbians to serve openly in
the military;
In Canada, the British Columbia Human
Rights Code prohibits discrimination against the
LGBT community in employment, housing, or
a service or facility. It also protects individuals
from hate publications aimed at sexual
orientation;
In New Zealand, it is unlawful to discriminate
against a person on the grounds of their sexual
orientation. This applies in the areas of
employment, access to public places, provision
of goods and services, accommodation and
educational establishments. And though there
is still a ban on lesbian and gay marriage,
federal judges have said the country’s 1955
Marriage Law discriminates against same-sex
couples and new legislation is necessary to
correct the discrimination. The country also has
laws guarding sexual privacy;
In Norway, same-sex marriage is legal. The
country also has wide-ranging laws banning
discrimination against gays and lesbians;
Vn the United States, while the federal
government does not recognize same-sex
marriages, in several states like Hawaii and New
Jersey, judges have issued same-sex couple
marriage licenses. Some states also give
domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples
and the federal Anti Hate Crimes Bill now
covers any form of anti-homosexual
harassment.
It is certainly not the case that the North has
led the way in making guaranteeing
fundamental freedoms to its sexual minority
community. In fact certain key constitutional
protections were first enacted in the South
countries. For example: In 1996, South Africa
became the first country to add a constitutional
clause banning discrimination on the basis of
teexual orientation. The protection on the basis
T)f sexual orientation is built right into the
country’s Bill of Rights. In fact, it is the only
country that constitutionally recognizes “that
people’s sexual nature is fundamental to their
humanity,” as phrased by Archbishop Desmond
Tutu. Furthermore, homosexual sex was
legalized in 1998 and several insurance
companies have recently changed their policies
to allow for coverage of same-sex domestic
partners.
To conclude, anti-homosexual discrimination,
violence and social cleansing does not impact
only lesbians, gays. It affects all of us. First,
there is the direct cost to the public purse
incurred through the enforcement of
discriminatory laws. Second, is the cost to
employers because of reduced productivity or
FACTS against MYTHS
loss of individual workers, and the negative
impact on the efficiency of companies as a whole
through discrimination and harassment in the
workplace. Third, there is also the cost linked
to physical attacks on individuals (such as
hospital treatment and absence from work) or
on lesbian/gay businesses (such as loss of
employment and income to the local economy).
Issues of concern to lesbians and gay men have
to be on the agenda of all people and
organizations concerned with the development
of pluralist and democratic societies, in which
all human rights are truly for all human beings.
Endeavors and efforts to achieve equality for
gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered
people, and the respect of their human rights,
as necessarily being part of a broader and more
comprehensive struggle for, and commitment
to, human rights and to equality.
MYTH: Lesbianism is a Western
phenomenon and films like Fire, made by
NRIs, simply pollute Indian culture.
FACT: There are several false assumptions
embedded in this simple assertion — that
lesbianism did not and does not exist in India,
that women's sexuality can be manipulated
through exposure to popular culture and that
Indian culture is something authentic and selfcontained.
Lesbianism and male homosexuality have been
prevalent in all cultures and at all times. It
was certainly present in ancient Greece since
the term lesbianism} derives from the legend
of Sappho on the isle of Lesbos where female
female sexual bonding was the norm. It was
also present in ancient India as several works
>bf art, literature and history show. In fact, as
Thadani has shown in Sakhiyani, to date the
most comprehensive study on lesbian histories
in India, lesbian comogonies in particular and
gynefocal theologies and traditions existed for
centuries in India in the pre-Vedic and vedic
periods and then reinterpreted during the
Shaktic period (1996). It is only in the postShaktic period that these traditions were
systematically destroyed and in their place
heterosexuality,
consortship
and/or
masculinized ideologies and images were
constructed. Thadani gives several examples
of inter-feminine relations in the text of the Rg
Ved. While she cautions us against reducing
all such bonding to a limited sexual level, what
becomes evident is that lesbianism was certainly
one important part of this bonding. Other
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evidence of lesbianism are temples such as Tara
Tarini where the original iconography of the
lesbian twin goddesses in embrace have been
replaced by a heterosexual image or and the
erotic sculptures in temples at Konarak
(Thadani 1996).
Further, the 5th century astrologer and
Ayurvedic physician, Varahmihir, referred to
lesbianism in his book Brihat-Jatak. He wrote,
“ifin an individual’s horoscope, Venus anARahu
are aspected by each other or are in each
other’s 'navmansh' (horoscope), then she will
be afflicted with the person of the same sex
acting as the opposite sex.”
Finally, the Kama Sutra also contains an entire
chapter, ‘Auparishtaka’, on homosexual sex
with references to lesbian activity observed in
the anthapura (harem).
It is true that the Arthashastra and
Manusmriti make lesbian sexuality illegal and
the Ramayan of Valmiki and the Mahabharat
see it as degenerative behavior (Kumar 1996).
Even if we accept these edicts, what these
literary texts do show is the existence of
lesbianism in India from time immemorial.
More contemporary examples of lesbian
existence are the recurrent female-female sex
as a recurrent motif in Indian folk lore and the
lesbo-erotics of “ladies sangeet” (Mehra and
Wadhwa 1998). Some Indian figures from
history that happen to be gay include Firaq
Gorakhpuri and Amrita Shergill.
Lesbianism is also found in Tantric Hinduism,
established as a religion in 800 AD when the
people rebelled against the stratified upper caste
priesthood that controlled religious worship. The
central theme of the new spirituality was direct
spiritual experience through ecstatic sexual
practice, meditation and the use of sacraments.
In Tantric beliefs, erotic love between women
is a celebration of and an initiation into the
female creative spirit (Coomaraswamy 1943).
Because the form of woman power is highly
valued woman loving woman can be the source
of great wisdom in Tantric Hinduism. In fact,
it is lesbian sexual love that has the potential
to awaken and reunite individuals with the
Divine. In other words, lesbian love is sacred
and transformational.
Thus, we can see that far from being a "foreign"
phenomenon, "a Western import", lesbianism
is particularly Indian, having been celebrated
and immortalized in different forms of Hinduism
( FACTS against MYTHS
in our earliest scriptures and sculptures. It was
vilified only later. Today, in purticular, there is
no public space for free discussion of sexuality,
leave alone women’s sexuality. And
consequently women s desires, needs and
sexual relationships get hidden and become
invisible. Lesbianism, more than male
homosexuality, is seen as wrong precisely
because this kind of female desire threatens
Indian men and the heteropatriarchal social
order. Labelling it a “foreign phenomenon” then
simply becomes an act of protection of Indian
women and their minds by their well-meaning
menfolk.
There is a major fallacy underlying the myth
that films like Fire promote lesbianism. It
assumes that sexuality is something that can
be taught or instigated. While sexuality has
both a social and a biological component, ikcannot be manipulated so easily through
exposure to a single film or even a whole host
of films. Curiously enough films like Fire are
dangerous. But they are dangerous because
they promote the idea that lesbian desires and
relationships are outgrowths of heterosexuality
gone bad; that all one need is a good encounter
of heterosexual sex to be cured'!:! Scientists,
psychologists, anthropologists and social
scientists all agree that lesbianism has nothing
to do with husbands who neglect, torture or
abuse their wives. This entrenched fallacy not
only promotes a rigid heterosexual-patriarchal
order, but also does a disservice to both lesbians
and heterosexual wives who ritualistically face
emotional and mental sexual abuse at the
hands of their husbands.
MYTH: Sexual bonding is not a right andti
homosexuals are simply asking for special
privileges.
FACT: Marriage and family have a central
place in Indian society.
However, homosexuals are denied this most
fundamental of rights,. This has two
consequences. First, because there is no legal
recognition of homosexual couples,
homosexuality becomes a way for society to
deny individuals benefits like pensions and life
insurance of their partners, safe housing and
access to medical treatments and public
facilities.
Under personal family laws, homosexual
individuals cannot inherit the assets of their
partners even if they have been in a long-
February 1988, two women police constables of the M.P. Special Armed Force, Leela
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Srivastava and Urmilla Namdeo got married. Their “marriage,” however, was
i shortlived. They were fired from service on grounds of “conduct unbecoming of public
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* Few years ago two women, Vinoda and Rekha, from the village of Patri and
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Dadgaon in Chandrapur district of Maharasthra, on approaching the registrar
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of marriages of the district were not only discouraged but forced to abandon
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even the thought of living together;
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* In May 1988, Asaruna and Sudha, employees of a Panchayat school in Vadadhali
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village of Naswadi taluka, Gujarat, signed a statement in the district court to
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enter into a “friendship pact,” Maitri Karar;
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* On July 9,1993, Neeru, employed at a TV repair shop in Faridabad and Meenu
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(who supported her widowed mother and younger siblings by singing in
jagarans) got married in the local temple;
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* In June 1995, childhood friends, Sum an, a second-year bachelor’s student at
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Delhi’s Jesus and Mary College, and Mamta, a student at the Delhi Polytechnic
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Institute, eloped when their families tried to discourage the two from any
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such liaison and separate them;
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In 1990, Tarulata underwent a sex-change so as to marry her girlfriend, Lila
Chavda. The latter’s father, Muljibhai Chavda, went to the Gujarat High Court,
to have the marriage annulled. The petition contended that “Tarunkumar
(Tarulata) has neither the male organ nor any natural mechanism of
cohabitation, sexual intercourse and procreation of children. Adoption of any
unnatural mechanism does not create malehood and as such Tarunkumar is
not a male”.
*
In late 1995 Sandhya Times reported the cases of Manisha marrying Madhu by
“putting blood on her head” and of two twenty-two-year-old women from,
Mansiha Kaushal and Madhu Arora, becoming lifelong “companions.” The
report said Madhu’s parents tried to get her married to a man, but the lovers
fled to another city. The people who had rented them their housing
subsequently objected to their relationship, and the couple was eventually
arrested by the police.
standing relationship. Even if there is a will, if
it is challenged by any other possible
beneficiary, all claims of the partner will be
rejected in court or struck down on moral
grounds. Seeking palimony, alimony or
maintenance out of homosexual relationships
becomes moot since the court does not recognize
such unions.
Legally, medical facilities and practitioners
cannot refuse treatment to a person on the
grounds of his or her being a homosexual,
public spaces and services, like restaurants and
trains, too are legally required to serve all
populations. Yet, for a long time, the Indian
Railways had banned people with AIDS from
its trains and homosexuals are still barred from
entering some clubs or restaurants. The
Railways, lifted its ban only in 1995 after
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intensivp media coverage. In the armed forces
and in the police services, homosexuals can be
refused recruitment under its rules of conduct.
(cf. Box above for illustration of such cases)
These cases make it quite obvious that there is
little the homosexual community can do to fight
this widespread and serious discrimination. Far
from being sympathetic to their cause the
courts, in fact, treat homosexuality as a crime.
Under the Section 377 of the Indian Penal
Code, formulated by the British Parliament for
India in 19th century, homosexuality — even
among consenting adults — is punishable by
up to 10 years imprisonment. It follows that
homosexuals are not permitted to organize,
socialize publicly or discuss their situation in a
public space as this would be tantamount to
abatement of the offense under existing laws.
As a consequence of all this, homosexuals are
denied the Fundamental Rights of Free Speech,
The Right To Privacy (Article 21 of the
Constitution) and Right To Free Assembly —
guaranteed to all other citizens.
The second consequence of the centrality of
marriage and family in the Indian social
formation is that homosexuality is seen as an
attempt to disrupt tradition and religion, in
favor of modernity and individualism. In our
male-defined society, men are overvalued and
given a special status simply because of their
gender. Depending upon their caste and social
status they can and often do command a
considerable dowry in marriage. Public
knowledge of a man s homosexuality would
prevent him from being married and fetching
a good dowry, thereby leaving him and his
family economically poorer.
Female
homosexuals are dealt with more severally than
men. Since women are considered the property
of men, expressing and gratifying sexual
desires independent of men is not tolerated at
all for this would be tantamount to giving up
control of women’s sexuality. As a result of this,
many homosexual women and men end up
being married, sublimating their natural
desires, and battling acute depression.
All these cases show that in India the ideology
of normal sexuality equates it with procreation.
This has its roots in the “gender codes” grounded
in the early Brahmanic and caste ideology.
Thus, abnormal sexuality gets equated with
abnormal gender which, in turn, gets equated
with death. The internalization of this ideology
is clearly manifested in the court’s attitude
towards Tauralata/Tarunkumar. Gender
crossover was not enough to establish
“malehood” and non-reproductive sexuality
constituted abnormality. Thus the only
legitimate, sanctioned and approved sexuality
was heterosexual in nature and procreative in
purpose. However, by these standards, sexual
activity of the vast majority of people, whether
heterosexual or homosexual, would be illicit or
illegal!
In conclusion, far from it being a matter of
asking for special privileges, what the lesbian,
gay transgendered and bisexual communities
of India are demanding are Fundamental
Rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution
and international covenants. They are seeking
enforcement of: Article 14 of the Indian
G4SO
FACTS against MYTHS
Constitution which forbids discrimination
against persons on the basis of sex and therefore
sexual orientation.
Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights that states: “No person should be
discriminated against on the basis of race, sex,
religion, cast, color, or any other status.”
Articles 26 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights which guarantees
every citizen the right to privacy, and thus
every individual’s right to choose and live even
in same-gender relationships.
MYTH: Lesbians are highly masculine in
their appearance. Moreover, they are
promiscuous and unstable.
FACT: This myth is based on the concept that
certain forms of dressing and certain ways of
walking and talking are gendered “female”
“male.” Clothing is an artificial accessory thar
has taken on a gendered quality only though
repeated usage. Moreover, it has a strict
relation to history. Just a few years ago adult
Indian women were discouraged or forcibly
forbidden from wearing pants or shorts. A desire
to wear pants itself was seen as “abnormal.”
However, it is pervasive today. Clothing, and
the freedoms it has offered in physical
movement, has often led to a different stride in
women. This too has been deemed “masculine”
but has historical and cultural specificity.
Perhaps a tiny percentage of lesbians do have
an appearance deemed “masculine,” but by and
large it is a stereotype. Interestingly, evidence
shows that homosexual relationships tend to
ape the heterosexual model of a dominant and
a subservient partner. Thus, one partner of
same-gender relationship may well imitat^
superficial actions of the opposite sex, and
therefore exhibit a “masculine” persona.
The related myth about promiscuity is linked
to the hetero-patriachal institution of marriage.
Since marriage is not available for lesbian
women or gay men, they are more free to
change partners if they so desire. However,
there is no proof to show that lesbians and gay
men are any more or less promiscuous than
other people. In fact, there are several anecdotes
suggesting that lesbians and gay men have
stronger bonds as relationships survive a long
time despite severe social ostracism and
financial difficulties.
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HELPLINE
For LesBiGay Persons
1. Sangini
C/o The Naz Foundation (India) Trust
> P.O. Box 3910
Andrews Ganj
New Delhi 110049
® 6851970/71
E-mail: info@naz.unv.eme
(Tusedays, 6 to 8 p.m.)
Bombay Dost
105A Veena Beena Shopping Centre
Bandra (W),
Mumbai 400 050
5. Counsel Club
C/o Pawan
Post Bag 10237
Calcutta 700019
2. Sakhi
P.O. Box 3526
Lajpat Nagar
New Delhi 110024
3. Stree Sangam,
P.O. Box 16613,
Matunga,
Mumbai 400019
Email: admin@faow.ilbom.emet.in
6. Good As You
C/o Samraksha
201 Royal Comer, 2nd floor
1 & 2 Lalbag Road
Bangalore 560 027
Please feel free to reproduce material from this publication but with due credit.
FACTS against MYTHS
7")
Hetrosexual Questionnarie
By Martin Rochlim, Ph.D
This Heterosexual Questionnaire reverses the questions that are very often asked ofgays and lesbians
by straight people. By having to answer this type of question, the heterosexual person will get some
intellectual and emotional insight in to how oppressive and discriminatory a ‘Straight’ frame of
reference can be to lesbians and gays. (Rochlin is a psychologist who realized that those that needed
to be treated were straight people, not gays.)
What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
When and how did you first decide you were a heterosexual?
Is it possible that your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of?
Is is a possibility that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear?
Ifyou’ve never slept with a person ofthe same sex, is it possible that all you need is a good gay
lover?
6. To whom have you disclosed your heterosexual tendencies?
7. Why do you heterosexuals feel compelled to seduce others into your lifestyle?
■ 8. Why do you insist on flaunting your heterosexuality? Can’t you just be what you are and keep
it quiet?
9. Would you want your children to be heterosexual, knowing the problems they’d face?
10. A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexuals. Do you consider it safe to
expose your children to heterosexual teachers?
11. Even with all the societal support marriage receives, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are
there so few stable relationships among heterosexuals?
12. Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?
13. Considering the menace of overpopulation, how could the human race survive if everyone
were heterosexual?
14. Could you trust a heterosexual therapist to be objective? Don't you fear that the therapist
might be inclined to influence you in the direction of his or her own leanings?
15. How can you become a whole person if you limit yourself to compulsive, exclusive,
heterosexuality and fail to develop your natural, healthy homosexual potential?
16. There seem to be very few happy heterosexuals. Techniques have been developed that might
enable you to change ifyou really want to. Have you considered trying aversion therapy?
From: ^Lesbian & Gay Issues: A Resource Manual for Social Workers,’ Natalie J. Woodman, Travis
L. Peterson and Hilda Hildalgo, editors, NASW, 1984.
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Facts Against Myths is a monthly bulletin offactual
information on a number of development myths and
fallacies, etc, including information against alien
development models, paradigms and false concepts
on caste, creed and gender.
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