ABSTRACT

India, the traditional home of Hinduism, is discovering non-heterosexuality, particularly homosexuality, to be a troublesome topic (Asthana and Oostvogels 2001; Vanita 2005). Celebrated as the world’s largest democracy with, despite secularising trajectories, a deeply religious culture, the country effectively legalised homosexual relations in 2009. The enactment, which potentially opened the door to further non-heterosexual rights such as civil unions, continues to be opposed by many influential conservative Hindu cadres and rightist political parties already alarmed by liberalising tendencies around non-heterosexual issues. At the same time, those advancing such rights not only endorse them by recourse to the secular ethic of citizenship, but also appeal to Hindu religio-cultural motifs to undergird their cause. Thus certain aspects of the contestation and accompanying discourse between conflicting elements over non-heterosexual rights are with reference to selected Hindu religious text, laws, mythological narratives and aspects of cultural heritage, many of which display rich diversity, ambiguities and even inherent contradictions. The eclectic nature of Hinduism’s historical attitude towards non-heterosexuality – where context and interpretation are vital components – thus provide rich resources for contemporary disputes and plausibly more so than any other major religious tradition.