Year after India gay ruling, a battle to change attitudes

GURAGON — Vivek Kishore and Vishwa Srivastava hit it off soon after meeting at a cafe, little knowing what lay in store for them as a gay couple in India where homosexuality was a criminal offense until a year ago.

The couple’s worst fears came true when they were slapped, abused, and threatened with police action by none other than Kishore’s parents, who found out they were living together.


But life changed for the duo a year ago on Friday when India’s Supreme Court overturned a British colonial-era law that had criminalized gay sex as “against the order of nature”.

Hundreds of people had been prosecuted under the law, known as Section 377, which was often used to threaten, abuse, and blackmail members of the LGBTQ community.

“It was huge, it was like getting independence… My immediate thought was both of us can have sex, that’s not criminal anymore,” Kishore gushed.

“Legally there is nothing that my homophobic family can do now against me,” the 24-year-old said, locking eyes and toes with his partner at their home in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Battle for equality

The decades-long legal fight to legalize gay sex began in India in the 1990s when arranged marriages were the norm, with families carefully choosing a partner for their children from the same religion, caste, and status.

The community won a big reprieve in 2009 when the Delhi High Court ruled that the law could not be applied to consensual sex.

But orthodox Hindu, Muslim, and Christian groups challenged it in the Supreme Court, which then restored the law in 2013.

The LGBTQ community, however, refused to give up and in 2016 a group of high-profile petitioners including a gay dancer and a chef again approached the Supreme Court.

They were joined by others and the court began hearing emotional arguments from a community long ostracized in a country that remains socially conservative.

“It’s very important that people who have a voice should use it because it’s not easy (to come out),” said Anjali Gopalan, one of the petitioners and a gay rights activist.

Attitudes

Gopalan, however, admitted that just scrapping the law on September 6, 2018 was not enough and that the real change would only come when regressive attitudes change.

In the past year, there have been tentative signs that Indian society is becoming more relaxed about homosexuality.

Gay characters have featured in a popular online series as well as a Bollywood film, while more restaurants and cafes are declaring themselves gay-friendly.

In May, sprinter Dutee Chand became a trailblazer by becoming the first Indian athlete to reveal she is in a same-sex relationship.

Pride marches were held across India with much gusto in June as students and members of the civil society joined to show their solidarity to the community.

Colorful wedding

Kishore and Srivastava got married in a colorful Hindu ceremony in 2017, even before Section 377 was scrapped, but their union has no legal standing.


“Our life is like any other straight couple but still we can’t claim any spousal benefits like healthcare and property rights,” said Srivastava, an educator. “If one of us, heaven forbid, dies then we can’t even claim each other’s bodies. It’s so disturbing.”

Srivastava’s mother, Priti, has stood by him in his quest for rights, braving barbs from relatives and nosy neighbors.

“The law may have gone but the social stigma is still there. I try not to worry about what people are saying behind my back but I know they are,” she said.

“But if you show you don’t care if your child is gay or not, then others also don’t care.” /kga

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Taiwan’s gay marriage ruling raises hopes across Asia

BEIJING—Taiwan’s giant step towards allowing same-sex marriage has reverberated across Asia, but activists warn the fight for equality isn’t over in a region where gay sex remains illegal in some countries.

Challenges to an Asia-wide embrace of same-sex unions were highlighted by this week’s caning of two Indonesian men as punishment for gay sex and a South Korean military court’s jailing of a soldier for having intercourse with another man.

In mainland China, two men lost a court battle to get married last year.

But activists are hopeful that the push for marriage rights will be reinvigorated by Taiwan’s constitutional court decision, which paves the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to allow same-sex couples to tie the knot.

The court ruled Wednesday that laws preventing same-sex unions violated the constitution’s guarantees of freedom of marriage and gave the government two years to implement the decision.

“We’re very happy,” said Vuong Kha Phong, a rights assistant at iSEE advocacy group in Vietnam. “This is a historic victory for the LGBT groups in Asia.”

The first domino?

Gay marriage is currently legal in only around 20 countries around the world, 13 of which are in Europe. New Zealand also allows same-sex couples to legally marry.

Taiwan is seen as one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights.

“While I think it is still a long way to the equality dominos falling all over Asia, I think a few East Asian countries, such as Japan and Vietnam, may be more ready to consider equality legislation,” Ray Chan, Hong Kong’s first openly gay lawmaker, told Agence France-Presse.

“I can foresee many couples in Hong Kong will try to get married in Taiwan. When they return home, they will press the government and even the private sector for recognizing them because the current laws, policies, and rules are blatantly discriminatory.”

In Vietnam, which is seen as socially progressive on LGBT issues and where a vibrant gay scene flourishes online and in some big cities, hopes for marriage reform have stalled.

But iSEE’s Phong said the Taiwan ruling “will give us momentum to mobilize the community to take action — to do something so that gay marriage can be considered when lawmakers discuss changing the marriage law in 2020.”

Gay activists in China expressed optimism that their country’s cultural connections with Taiwan could help their efforts to change the law on same-sex nuptials.

Homosexuality was officially decriminalized in 1997 but only taken off the list of psychiatric disorders four years later.

“Taiwan and mainland China have the same roots and culture so it suggests that Chinese society could also accept the idea of gay marriage,” said Li Yinhe, a renowned Chinese sexologist who has pressed Beijing policymakers on the issue.

There have been small signs of progress. While a Chinese court last year ruled against two men seeking to marry, the fact the case even made it into the judicial system was seen by many as an achievement.

“I am very happy and very excited that homosexual marriage is legalized in Taiwan. It’s a pity that the mainland has not taken this step,” said Sun Wenlin, one of the men in the case.

“But I’m optimistic about the legalization of same-sex marriage in China.”

Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen, a senior lecturer at the University of Oslo’s Centre for Gender Research, said Taiwan’s court ruling “creates a momentum for putting this on the table as a political issue” in Asia.

Gay sex illegal

South Korea allows homosexual acts between civilians but not military personnel and a high-profile legal challenge to the country’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2015 by movie director Kim Jho Gwang-Soo and his long-time partner Kim Seung-Hwan failed.

“People say that it’s too early for our society to handle but I think if there is an open debate about the troubles of sexual minorities then I hope South Korean society can also walk a similar path,” said Lee Na-Ra from Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea.

Before they can consider marriage, activists must win other battles in places such as India, Singapore and Indonesia’s Aceh province, where gay sex is still outlawed.

“Legally we are not even pressing for gay marriage now. We are being denied our fundamental right,” said Manvendra Singh Gohil, one of India’s most vocal gay rights activists. “We have to go step by step.”/rga

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

LGBT history lessons edging closer to California classrooms

SAN FRANCISCO— After multiple delays, California education officials are moving to comply with the nation’s first law requiring public schools to include prominent gay people and LGBT rights milestones in history classes.

A curriculum outline scheduled to be reviewed by the State Board of Education on Thursday would introduce the concepts in second grade through discussions about diverse families and again in fourth grade with lessons on California’s place in the gay rights movement.

The proposed outline also touches on the topics in fifth and eighth grade — looking at gender roles in the 18th and 19th centuries and examples of individuals who flouted them — and throughout high school.

A capstone of sorts would come in U.S. government courses, where seniors would learn about the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and recent court cases involving bathroom access for transgender students.

The changes are designed to satisfy legislation passed by California lawmakers five years ago that added LGBT Americans and people with disabilities to the list of social and ethnic groups whose contributions schools are supposed to teach and must appear in K-8 textbooks.

The legislation, known as SB48, also prohibited the adoption of any classroom materials that reflect adversely on gays or particular religions.

The law officially took effect in January 2012, but its implementation was slowed by two failed attempts by opponents to overturn it, budget cuts that put work on drafting recommendations for the school board and textbook purchases on hold, and competing educational priorities.

Carolyn Laub, a consultant for a group for LGBT parents called Our Family Coalition, said that while some school districts and individual teachers made their own efforts to incorporate gay history since the law passed, many were nervous about tackling the topic without explicit guidance from the state.

“Many, many educators are waiting for this framework to know, ‘This is the content I’m supposed to be including,'” Laub said. “If educators perceive, rightly or wrongly, they may not get support from their administration if they face pushback from a parent who says, ‘I don’t want you talking to my kid about that,’ they are reluctant to do a whole lot of inclusion.”

Gay rights groups had complained that an initial draft of the outline issued in 2014 did only a cursory job of highlighting important LGBT figures and events. Twenty scholars affiliated with the American Historical Association offered detailed recommendations for beefing up the document, most of which were adopted, said Don Romesburg, chairman of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at Sonoma State University.

“One of the really important things about this new framework is it’s a 21st century framework,” Romesburg said. “It really recognizes that whatever your political view or opinion of LGBT rights, LGBT history is a part of American history, and you cannot understand where we are now collectively as Americans without understanding something of the LGBT past.”

The additions dealing with LGBT history are part of an overall revision of the state’s history and social studies framework, which identifies the historical concepts California students should be exposed to each year. The guidelines were last updated more than a decade ago.

An advisory commission that produced the recommendations the state school board will consider Thursday received thousands of written comments voicing support, expressing opposition or requesting simple changes, but only a small handful dealt with the gay history additions. Three teachers expressed concern that other important groups were neglected.

“There is no mention of Manifest Destiny or Native Americans,” Brianna Leemkuil, a U.S. history teacher at Yucaipa High School in San Bernardino County, said of one 11 grade unit. “You want us to talk about a tiny LGBT community and ignore the killing of an entire people group?”

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Pacquiao sorry for gays-animals comparison, stands ground on same-sex unions

I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals. Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt. I still stand on my belief that I’m against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning LGBT. I love you all with the love of the Lord. God Bless you all and I’m praying for you.

Posted by Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Filipino boxing icon and senatorial candidate Manny Pacquiao has apologized to the public for comparing gays to animals in his stand against same-sex unions.

In a 47-second Facebook video uploaded on Tuesday night, the Sarangani representative said sorry for his statement relegating homosexuals as “worse than animals.”

“Nais ko pong humingi ng paumanhin sa mga nasaktan dahil sa aking pagkumpara sa tao sa hayop. ‘Yun po ay kamalian ako. Ako po ay humingi ng paumanhin sa lahat ng mga nasaktan,” Pacquiao said.

(I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals. Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt.)

But Pacquiao said he was firm on his stand against same-sex marriage.

“Hindi po nagbabago ang aking desisyon. Against po ako sa same-sex marriage, at ‘yun po ang paniniwala ko. Ang mali ko lang po ay kinumpara ko ‘yung tao sa hayop. Humihingi po ako ng pumanhin,” Pacquiao said.

(I still stand on my belief that I’m against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning LGBT.)

“I am humbling myself before you and before God for my mistake. Thank you and God bless,” he added.

Pacquiao, who is running under Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Allliance, has earned the ire of netizens, celebrities, and the lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender community for his remark. TVJ

source: sports.inquirer.net

Gay marriage bill signed into law in Ireland

DUBLIN, Ireland - Same-sex marriage was signed into law in Ireland on Thursday, five months after a historic referendum saw the traditionally Catholic nation become the world's first country to vote for gay unions.

In a brief statement, the president's office said "The Presidential Commission today signed the 'Marriage Bill 2015' into law", paving the way for the first weddings within a month.

Ireland voted 62.1 percent in favour of allowing marriage between two people "without distinction as to their sex" in May, the first time anywhere that gay marriage has been legalised in a referendum.

Legal challenges to the result had briefly delayed the legislation from coming into effect.

Senator Katherine Zappone, who had long campaigned for her Canadian marriage to her wife to be recognised in Ireland, called it "a defining moment".

"It is a deeply emotional moment for those of us who have campaigned for so long," Zappone said in a statement. "This victory truly belongs to the nation, it is a moment for us all."  —  Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com