Homosexuality...continued
If ya'll recall, I had directed your attention recently to a couple of posts made by my good friend Sandipan on the topic of homosexuality (http://writerthroughlife.blogspot.com/2006/02/musingmonsoon.html). Incase you did not have the opportunity to view those posts, I have copied the direct links here:
Musing Monsoon: Homosexuality in India
Musing Monsoon: Section 377
I urge you to take the time to read those, as I believe they are not only well-written, but simultaneously address very valid points. After you read those posts, I want to direct you to a news article I came across online just a couple of days ago:
News Article: click here
I find it quite coincidential that so soon after learning about section 377, I come across a news article that addresses an issue along those very lines. Reading this however, made me understand even more the irrationality of the entire homosexuality "situation".
Summary of the situation:
Two young women are "in love" and run away from home to live together. The family of one girl [girl A] accuses the other girl [girl B] of kidnapping girl A while also accusing girl B of being a man dressed as a woman. The police get involved, and find out 1] both girls ran away together - nobody kidnapped anbody, and 2] girl B is in fact a woman dressed as a man, as she would like to henceforth live her life as a male.
Quick [obvious] analysis:
a] Did girl B kidnap girl A as girl A's family accused girl B of doing?
>>No. They ran away with mutual consent.
b] Was girl B a man dressed as a woman as girl A's family accuses girl B of doing?
>>No. She was in fact a girl, simply dressed in a man's clothes.
c] Do police have the right to invoke Section 377 [regardless of how ludicrous Section 377 sounds in the first place] and charge girl B with "unnatural sex"?
>>No. There must be penetration in order to utilize Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
d] If in fact, there is no reason to accuse the women and if in fact, they have not done anything "illegal" [again, meant to be taken with a pinch of salt since laws such as Section 377 are so absurd and vague], should the police now let the girls go?
>>Yes. The accusations made by girl A's family are not true, and the police have found nothing else illegal about the girls' actions.
However, what do the police do instead? Keep the young women in custody and waste time trying to find a way to penalize them for absolutely nothing!
I quote from the article [Sonu is girl B]: "We cannot accuse Sonu of kidnapping," said Panchmahals deputy police superintendent J.K. Bhatt. Nor, he added, could Sonu be charged with "unnatural sex" under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
"To invoke Section 377, one has to prove penetration," said Bhatt. "We have conducted a medical examination which proved that Sonu is a woman."
I quote again from the article: Since Sonu was not, in fact, male, and since both women told police they wanted to live together and no kidnapping had taken place, the law enforcement officers seemed hamstrung.
Then why on earth are they still being held in custody? Why do people think they have the time to waste on such mundane issues that really should not even be issues in the first place? As the article explicitly states, this is certainly not the first occurence of the likes of such a case, and it probably will not be the last. I do, and will always, fail to understand the energy and time spent on homosexuality in India, in the United States, and in any other country it is made to be an issue.
India is supposed to be the largest democracy in the world, while the United States is meant to be "the land of the free" where freedom of expression is a privilege. So much for that.
And as far as the United States goes, so much for keeping "religion and state separated". I would like one person to come up to me and just try and argue out that any law speaking out against homosexuality does not have a bit of religion that plays into that decision. If it did not, what other reason is there for it to be an issue?
I don't usually have problems with religion in general. I myself am a practicing Hindu, and use religion to help me achieve a certain state of mind [to make a long description short - of course it is more complicated than such, but that's another story]. But it is when religion starts clashing with logic, and what in my mind is the simple and obvious path/decision, that I become frustrated and annoyed with the stupidity of it all.
Musing Monsoon: Homosexuality in India
Musing Monsoon: Section 377
I urge you to take the time to read those, as I believe they are not only well-written, but simultaneously address very valid points. After you read those posts, I want to direct you to a news article I came across online just a couple of days ago:
News Article: click here
I find it quite coincidential that so soon after learning about section 377, I come across a news article that addresses an issue along those very lines. Reading this however, made me understand even more the irrationality of the entire homosexuality "situation".
Summary of the situation:
Two young women are "in love" and run away from home to live together. The family of one girl [girl A] accuses the other girl [girl B] of kidnapping girl A while also accusing girl B of being a man dressed as a woman. The police get involved, and find out 1] both girls ran away together - nobody kidnapped anbody, and 2] girl B is in fact a woman dressed as a man, as she would like to henceforth live her life as a male.
Quick [obvious] analysis:
a] Did girl B kidnap girl A as girl A's family accused girl B of doing?
>>No. They ran away with mutual consent.
b] Was girl B a man dressed as a woman as girl A's family accuses girl B of doing?
>>No. She was in fact a girl, simply dressed in a man's clothes.
c] Do police have the right to invoke Section 377 [regardless of how ludicrous Section 377 sounds in the first place] and charge girl B with "unnatural sex"?
>>No. There must be penetration in order to utilize Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
d] If in fact, there is no reason to accuse the women and if in fact, they have not done anything "illegal" [again, meant to be taken with a pinch of salt since laws such as Section 377 are so absurd and vague], should the police now let the girls go?
>>Yes. The accusations made by girl A's family are not true, and the police have found nothing else illegal about the girls' actions.
However, what do the police do instead? Keep the young women in custody and waste time trying to find a way to penalize them for absolutely nothing!
I quote from the article [Sonu is girl B]: "We cannot accuse Sonu of kidnapping," said Panchmahals deputy police superintendent J.K. Bhatt. Nor, he added, could Sonu be charged with "unnatural sex" under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
"To invoke Section 377, one has to prove penetration," said Bhatt. "We have conducted a medical examination which proved that Sonu is a woman."
I quote again from the article: Since Sonu was not, in fact, male, and since both women told police they wanted to live together and no kidnapping had taken place, the law enforcement officers seemed hamstrung.
Then why on earth are they still being held in custody? Why do people think they have the time to waste on such mundane issues that really should not even be issues in the first place? As the article explicitly states, this is certainly not the first occurence of the likes of such a case, and it probably will not be the last. I do, and will always, fail to understand the energy and time spent on homosexuality in India, in the United States, and in any other country it is made to be an issue.
India is supposed to be the largest democracy in the world, while the United States is meant to be "the land of the free" where freedom of expression is a privilege. So much for that.
And as far as the United States goes, so much for keeping "religion and state separated". I would like one person to come up to me and just try and argue out that any law speaking out against homosexuality does not have a bit of religion that plays into that decision. If it did not, what other reason is there for it to be an issue?
I don't usually have problems with religion in general. I myself am a practicing Hindu, and use religion to help me achieve a certain state of mind [to make a long description short - of course it is more complicated than such, but that's another story]. But it is when religion starts clashing with logic, and what in my mind is the simple and obvious path/decision, that I become frustrated and annoyed with the stupidity of it all.
posted by Writer Through Life... at 2:34 PM
2 Comments:
this is a great post - you are absolutely right about government intervention in homosexuality. Its really stupid. Nice reference to the article.
by the way - interested in knowing what your views on religion are. you mentioned something at the end but said it was another story. maybe a good story for another post?
This, in my opinion, was probably the best post i've seen on your blog...and I couldn't agree more. I heard abt a year or two ago...there was the first gay parade in India. Definitely some great strides taking place for the homosexual minority! (not that i'm a member of it! haha)
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