On 6th September 2018, the Delhi High Court made a historic decision by scrapping Section 377 and stating it as unconstitutional. A long fight started by Naz foundation in 2001 ended the 158-year-old controversial legal provision of colonial area, ending in the victory for the rights and social legitimacy of the LGBTQ community in India. So, what is LGBTQ and what is Section 377?
LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. And Section 377 refers to 'unnatural offences' and says “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 10 years, and shall also be liable to pay a fine.” The dilution of Section 377 was welcomed and celebrated by millions across the country, but has anything actually changed?
There are positive aspects of dilution of 377, such as the feeling of control of one’s (LGBTQ) identity, being visible as a LGBTQ, fighting back for the rights etc. But, how far have we actually come. How do you react when you see a LGBTQ couple? Many would deny that they don’t see the LGBTQ community as a different component than the general population. Why? So that people don’t consider them educated or modern enough. That is the problem with our education system. We were always told to respect women, which I don’t think is wrong in any way, but we were never told to respect men. Why everything we are taught in our early years is usually biased with respect to gender? Why were we never told to respect an individual, irrespective of their gender, social position, caste or race? I am glad to be born in a family where I was taught the right values, which you might feel being reflected in this article, but things are not same in about 85% of Indian families. A rotten apple cannot be eaten but can used to make a good apple cider wine. There are a lot of rotten apples in our society. So, let’s try to educate them. I mean its not their fault at all, it’s just that they weren’t privileged enough to receive a good moral education in their early years. The most important task is to make sure to educate our coming generations to respect a person for what he/she is, not on the basis of his/her gender or his/her position in the society. For a better future and a better society, a good moral education in early years is what is essential. I hope you get a lot of apple ciders in this journey. Cheers!
#inclusivity #acceptance #iimtrichy #PRISM_IIMT