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Being Gay in India

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

being gay in indiaI grew up in Saharanpur, a “small town” of 1 million people in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. Saharanpur is very like the hundreds of other towns littering the vast plains of the region, and not notable for much except its mangoes and woodcarving industry.

In the early 90s I was at a Catholic-run school in the town and had my first sexual experiences with another boy near the railway tracks. That’s what my brother was alluding to when he phoned me a couple of nights ago with what he called “breaking news from our childhood”.

Under a headline saying “Gay party has been exposed”, the local Hindi-language newspaper, Amar Ujala, had published a photograph of some 20 frightened-looking men sitting on the floor, many trying to conceal their faces with shawls and scarves.

Full Story from The Guardian

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India: Law College to Add Gay Rights Course

Monday, December 27th, 2010

Consider this. A classroom which will not just teach you rights and issues about the “third gender” but also have the community walk into the class room and talk about their problems.

Though Section 377 of the IPC was amended last year which has decriminalised non-heterosexual sex between consenting adults, civil rights for homosexuals have a long way to go: this is the underlying theme of a new initiative started by the Indian Law Society’s Law College (ILS) in Pune along with Samabhavana Society, an NGO for gay men which will commence next year.

Full Story from The Indian Express

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To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

India: Gay E-Magazine Denied Permission to Publish Print Version

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

Pink PagesThe Delhi High Court may have ruled in favour of India’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, but their battle for acceptance is far from over. The latest setback has come from the Registrar of Newspapers in India (RNI), which seems to have denied the community the right to express itself.

With the RNI recently denying India’s most popular online LGBT magazine ”Pink Pages the permission to publish print version of the magazine, activists across the country are crying foul. “The worst part is that no reason was given for rejecting the application. The least we deserved was an explanation. We have been following up with the authorities for months now,” said Harish Iyer, a Mumbai-based columnist for the magazine.

The monthly e-magazine was launched in July 2009 and created a record of sorts as more than 10,000 e-copies of the magazine were downloaded. Following its success, the Pink Pages team decided to publish print versions of the magazine, but their application to print the issue was rejected by government authorities late in October. With there being no response from the authorities concerned, the team has decided to take legal recourse.

Full Story from Mid-Day.com

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To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

PinkSixty News 11/29/10: Gay UK MP Spied on By US; Delhi Gay Pride

Monday, November 29th, 2010

US spies drew up a dossier on MP Alan Duncan, it has emerged. The international development minister – who is openly-gay – was monitored by American intelligence chiefs when he was his party’s prisons spokesman.

Delhi has held its first annual gay pride since homosexuality was legalised with thousands of people taking part in a parade in the Indian capital on Sunday. Around 2,000 people joined the event.

Full Story from Pink News

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To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

India: Lesbian Couple Marries in Koraput District

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

A marriage between same sexes is a commonly occurring thing in the west. In some western countries, gay or lesbian marriages have been legalized. In India marriages between same sexes is looked down upon as act of defying the age old institution of marriage. It is goes against the concept of marriage which is for procreation and making of a family. It has no religious sanction.

Besides, in India homosexuality is still an offense and liable for punishment. Any physical or emotional relationship between people of the same sex is frowned upon by our conservative society. Gay or Lesbian couples are harassed, hounded and finally ostracized by our society. Even the families of the couple have to bear the life long stigma of their wrong doing.

I came across this interesting story which occurred in eastern state of India, in Orissa’s Koraput district two Kondh women, both belonging to tribal society, defied all norms and traditions, when they tied nuptial knot.

Full Story from the South Asia Mail

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To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

India: Since Supreme Court Ruling, More Gays Leaving Unhappy Straight Marriages

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

In the year since the Delhi High Court passed a landmark judgment overturning a 150-year-old law and legalising consensual homosexual relationships between adults, more and more women stuck in unhappy marriages have filed for divorce on the grounds that they their husbands are “homosexual”.

Most women were once reluctant to speak out against their husbands for such a sexual orientation; many now seem to have overcome that.

“It isn’t that such cases have not been filed with the courts earlier. We have had many women who after a lot of prodding and investigations spoke up. A change, even though slight, has been seen in the court when women narrate their case. That is a major mind change,” said Advocate Shabnam Kazi, who practises in the family court in Bandra.

Full Story from the Indian Express

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To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Being Lesbian in India

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Being Lesbian in IndiaNext month, Sumati Kaul will take part in her third annual Gay Pride March in India. And for the first time since she began telling some friends and associates that she is a lesbian, she is planning to do so without a mask.

As recently as July, when smaller marches were held in several cities, she kept on her mask and avoided the cameras. “I didn’t want my family to see me on television,” said the 31-year-old software company manager.

But then the social pressures faced by many Indian women – to marry, to be a dutiful wife, to bear children and carry on the family line – hit her with special force, given her sexual orientation, and forced her hand.

Full Story from the NY Times

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Nepal: Country Hosts Gay Wedding for Indian Couple

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Love knows no boundaries. Legal restrictions and threats from family members made an Indian gay couple cross over to Nepal to get married. The ceremony held near a Hindu temple in the heart of Kathmandu on Tuesday is the first Indian gay wedding in Nepal where same sex marriages will get legal sanction soon.

Asif Khan, 30, a Muslim from Ahmedabad exchanged rings with longtime Hindu partner Sanjiv Sha, 42, a UK citizen of Indian origin (names changed). The couple was blessed by a Hindu priest.

A function was attended by gays, lesbians, transgendered and transvestites from Kathmandu who contributed to organize a small feast and party for the newlyweds.

Full Story from

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

India: 31% Support, 69% Oppose Gay Marriage in New Poll

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

India Pride ParadeIndia’s largest mobile social network, SMS GupShup, recently launched the Voice of India poll to discover and share opinions of a large number of Indians on a variety of topics. With over 30 million users, SMS GupShup has the ability to tap into a wide variety of communities, from all sectors of Indian life.

This month, the company asked users, “Do you think same sex-marriage should be legalized in India?” Of the nearly 8000 respondents, 31% said they support legalizing gay marriage in India, with 69% opposed. According to polls taken in the US in 2009*, an average of 44% of Americans support same-sex marriage, which makes the margin between Indian and American support somewhat minimal, at only a 13% difference.

Until one year ago, homosexuality was illegal in India; on July 2, 2009, the Delhi High Court decriminalized homosexual intercourse between consenting adults, citing that it violated “the fundamental right to life and liberty and the right to equality as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.” Since then, the country has seen an increase in health and social services for the LGBT sector, decrease in harassment, opening of gay establishments, and pride parades popping up in major cities, even the widely conservative city of Chennai.

Full Story from PRWeb

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

In Asia, Coming Out is All About Marriage (NPR)

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Commentator Sandip Roy is an editor with New America Media and host of New America Now on member station KALW in San Francisco.

The other day I watched two friends, both Indian, get married in a beautiful garden in Santa Cruz. One is Christian, the other Hindu, so they had two ceremonies. There was a three-tiered wedding cake and a sacred fire. But the really amazing part of the ceremony was that one of their fathers had flown in from India to bless them. It was amazing because my friends are both men.

And watching them touch the father’s feet during their unofficial ceremony, I realized that the fight over gay marriage is ending. Coming out in India is really about marriage. In fact, the standard coming-out line is, “Mom, Dad, I don’t think I am going to get married.” For my immigrant friends, being gay in California is not much of an issue. Being unmarried in their 30s and 40s is the conversation-stopper at Indian potlucks. One friend said that when an unmarried Chinese friend told his parents that at least he wasn’t gay, they retorted, “We’d rather you were gay with kids.”

When I left India for America, my aunts worried about who I might end up marrying. “I hope it’s another Bengali,” one told me. Over the years, that relaxed to, “I hope she’s a Hindu.” Then it became, “At least another Indian,” until finally we reached, “I hope you’ll get married before we all die.”

Full Story from NPR

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.