• Manmeet Kaur

Is it still Unnatural?

"Homosexuality..??"
"It's just a western thought destroying our Indian culture."
"It is unnatural."
"Humans are just moving towards sin, nothing else."
"It's just to satisfy the lust."
"It's a mental disease."

These are the most common sayings in India, that I'm sure we all must have heard of, right? But the main question is, is it really true? Is it really a disease which can be cured through prayers or therapy sessions? Is homosexuality really unnatural?

We always heard that non-humans don't engage in homosexual behaviour. But to your contradictory, homosexuality do exists in animals. Yes, you read that right. Infact, not only animals, there are also some plants that shows same-sex sexual behaviours. The term 'homosexual' is probably not politically correct for plants but they do have bisexual and unisexual behaviours. Just because homosexual behaviour doesn't lead to reproduction does not mean that it's unnatural. It is nearly a universal phenomenon in both the animal and plant kingdom and in humans too.

According to University of Oslo Zoologist Petter Bockman, nearly 1500 animal species practice same-sex coupling including insects, fishes, birds and mammals. The laysan albatross are known for its large no. of homosexual relationships, and around 30% of pairings on Oahu island are made up of two females. Among giraffes, there's more same-sex than opposite-sex activity. Infact, according to different studies, more than 90% of all observed sexual activity in giraffes is same-sex activity.

Among birds, swans are monogamous and usually stay together for life. Around 20% of swan couples are homosexuals and start their family together. In some cases, they mate with opposite sex just to have eggs while in other cases they adopt abandoned eggs. The most well-known homosexual animal is a dwarf chimpanzee where the entire species is bisexual.

Bisons, Bonobos, Japanese macaques etc. are some of the species where homosexual behaviour is more common than heterosexual behaviour. Also species like sea urchins and aphis, who never indulge in sexual activities at all shows asexual behaviour. As this lists of animals clearly says that homosexuality is completely natural, the whole idea or argument over same-sex relationships being unnatural is just a backward mindset of human society.

Apart from this, Homosexuality was never illegal or a criminal offence in ancient India. Many ancient scriptures and sculptures portray homosexuality as a completely normal behaviour, but it was criminalised by the British officers during their rule in India.

It's almost 2022 and homosexuality is still a taboo in India. People still discriminate the members of LGBTQ+ community. Cinemas still stereotypically portray a gay man as girly and a lesbian woman as erotic. Most LGBTQ+ individuals in India still remains closeted fearing discrimination and abandonment from their families and friends who might see homosexuality as shameful.

There's a common quote that says, "If being yourself is a crime, then freedom is just an illusion." So, after all this, do you still think that homosexuality is unnatural??

"This article was originally published at Likho website, hosted by Humsafar Trust".
To Checkout the originally published article  Click Here