INDIA AT HIS BEST- SODEMIAN LAWS AND GAY MARRIAGES

Based on Mansi Choksi | TNN Article in TIMES OF INDIA of today ( without permission, I deeply regret)


Last week, Durban-based sales advisor Joe Singh and his partner Wesley Nolan solemnized their relationship at a ceremony by an Hindu priest. In the Singh living room, Wesley tied a necklace with a Ganesha pendant around Joe’s neck. The couple, now honeymooning in Mauritius, chose the Ganesha instead of garlands because both of them are “staunch Hindus’’ and wanted the Elephant God to “ward off evil and remove obstacles from their path’’.
The grooms had sent out shimmering wedding invitations weeks in advance, had hand-embroidered shervanis shipped all the way from India, and took their vows before a havan or sacred fire. They spent 18 months preparing for their big day and Joe’s mother Rita Govender said the family had been extraordinarily supportive.

A year ago, a Mumbai based IT professional married his white boyfriend of five years in a boisterous ceremony in Seattle. They too had the shervanis and havan. Roughly 450 people attended, many of them uncles and aunts from Mumbai. The boy’s parents initially had reservations about making their son’s sexuality public. “But by the end of it, his mother was in mother-in-law mode,’’ says one of the guests.

These happy stories may sound unbelievable given the many accounts of social hostility to gay people. But the fact is that same-sex marriage ceremonies have been performed in Indian households, rich and poor, and in cities and small towns alike. The nuptials may not have legal validity but the ritual is remarkable in a country where homosexuality is still considered a criminal act and punishable by up to 10 years in the clink. Ironically, the police cannot bust a same sex marriage because a ceremony cannot prove homosexuality as defined by Section 377 of the IPC.
An activist from Gay Bombay confirms that there are reports of unions every week, be they a lesbian couple in Punjab or Kerala or gay men in Gujarat or Delhi. Ashok Row Kavi, who opened the closet in India, says he knows several gay couples who tied the knot. “There’s one big plus-point about Hindu priests,’’ says Kavi with a straight face. “They’ll forget about everything if you show them a few bucks.’’

While the ‘havan’ nuptials may not have legal standing, the ritual is remarkable in a country where homosexuality is still considered a criminal act punishable by up to 10 years’ in the clink. Ironically, the police cannot bust a same-sex marriage because a ceremony cannot prove homosexuality as defined by Section 377.

Legal status
Homosexual relations are legally still a crime in India under an old British era statute dating from 1860 called Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature.' The vague nature of the legislation has resulted in it being used against a wide range sexual behaviour like oral sex (heterosexual and homosexual), sodomy, bestiality, etc. The punishment ranges from ten years to lifelong imprisonment.
The relevant section reads:
Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.[32]

None of the major Indian political parties have endorsed gay rights concerns into their official party manifesto or platform.



A Mumbai activist from Gay Bombay confirms that there are reports of marriages every week, whether it is a lesbian couple in Punjab or Kerala or gay men in Gujarat or Delhi. Ashok Row Kavi, who pioneered the opening of the closet in India, says he knows several couples who have tied the knot. “There’s one big plus-point about Hindu priests,” says Kavi with a straight face. “They’ll forget about everything if you show them a few bucks.”

The marriage can be solemnized but the sodomanian act as to be proved, the bestialities maybe obvious but no police man is able to observe.

Same-sex marriage ceremonies are not an entirely new phenomenon, although they’ve largely stayed under the radar.
Arvind and Ashok were married in an Indian ceremony complete with ‘dhotis’ and ‘agni’. “Ashok and I are very sentimental people; we thought it was a great idea,” he says. It was Arvind’s mother, who had once rejected his sexuality, who came up with the idea. “When my family realised that what I had with Ashok was not ‘timepass’, they accepted us. He is very special to my family.”
Activists say that the same-sex marriage movement has emerged independent of the other issues in the gay rights movement. Most gay activists in India weren’t really pushing for marriage because they believed that homophobia and HIV were more pressing battles. Ashok Row Kavi is one of the more vociferous opponents of marriage, which he calls an “oppressive heterosexual institution”. Yet, say activists, it’s a need that can’t be wished away. “It’s the number one question we get from guys in the gay community: How can I find a man to marry?” says a Gay Bombay activist.