Same-Sex Marriage and Hinduism

[matt]

@Madhuri Shekar and Hari Venkatachalam

Politically and socially conservative factions in India claim that homosexuality or alternative gender identities are an influence of Western ideas. This idea is based on the false assumption that being a homosexual or alternative-gender individual is a lifestyle choice. In fact, gender identity is an inborn trait. Evidence suggests that prior to British legislation targeting what they regarded as “unnatural sexuality,” homosexual and transgender people coexisted with heterosexuals in pluralistic Hindu communities. Ruth Vanita, a scholar who has written extensively on South Asian LGBT themes, wrote in her book, Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West , “Under colonial rule, what was a minor strain of homophobia in Indian traditions became the dominant ideology.”

Hinduism Today