Secrets and Woes of Indian Gays

A weird thought is that I have never met a Bengali gay person. I'm sure they exist but homosexuality is very taboo in places like Bangladesh. The average Bengali adult (parent's generation and older) can't even decipher the concept of being gay, of such a "unnatural"idea. It made me wonder the perceptions of gays in larger, South Asian countries, like India. Although this article is from 2007, I think that it is still relevant today. The article talks about Sangini, a support group for gays, that meets in secret in the Indian capital of Delhi. As homosexuality is illegal in India, people have to take a lot of precaution to speak of the whereabouts of this group and in general about their sexual orientation. A homosexual man claimed, “they should legalize homosexuality-why should we forced to keep ourselves hidden-the law and society needs to change.” However, the law has been the same for a very long time. Gays are discriminated against by the police. But I think there is hope for them. The US based Human Rights Watch has expressed concern. There are various groups that are lobbying the government and the courts to change the law. I think it’s very difficult for Indians to accept the concept of homosexuality. Because they think it’s so unnatural, I don’t think they can understand why homosexuality should be legal. Although the US has a long time to go with accepting homosexuality, I think that we have come a long way-with many states legalizing gay marriage.