The Dharmashastras clearly value heterosexual marriage and sex that results in production of sons. The crimes of heterosexual adultery and rape, and deflowering a virgin, have much higher fines and more intense purification rituals. Failure to purify can result in loss of caste. The Manusmriti equates homosexual sex to a man having sex with a menstruating woman, or having sex during the day, and the punishment involves purification rites: bathing with clothes on, and fasting for a night, and eating specific cow milk and urine related products. The fine increases if one of the partners is not consenting. The Arthashastra of Kautilya, charges a fine, similar to fines for minor thefts. This could even refer to anal/oral sex between adult consenting men and women, not just between men, or between women. Written by Brahmins in the period that saw the composition of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, they have a relatively casual attitude towards non-vaginal (ayoni) sex.
They focussed more on "upper" castes and were relatively indifferent to "lower" castes. They were books that speculated on appropriate human conduct. The Dharmashastras need to be located in this context. Shiva becomes Ardhanareshwara, or half a woman, to make the Goddess happy. Sanskrit texts on astrology, architecture and music all refer to three genders: male, female and queer. Thus the condition is seen as physiological, not pathological. When both seeds are equally strong, the child becomes queer (kliba, napunsaka, kinnara). If the male white seed is stronger then heterosexual men are born when the female red seed is stronger, then heterosexual females are born. Medical texts, such as Shushruta Samhita, subscribe to the Tantrik belief that when a man and woman have sex, the gender and sexuality depends on the proportion of the male white seed and female red seed. How does one read this? A comfort with gender and sexual fluidity? An acceptance of karma? In Tulsidas' Ram-charit-manas, God says that he loves all creatures: plants, animals, males, females and queers (napunsaka), who give up malice and surrender to his grace. Vishnu becomes the damsel Mohini to enchant demons and sages. When Kali decides to become Krishna, Shiva takes the form of Radha, as per Baul traditions. He becomes Gopeshwar - milkmaid or cow-girl form of Shiva - to join Krishna in the raas-leela.
In the Puranas, God changes gender constantly: Every god has a female Shakti: thus Vinayaka has Vinayaki, Varaha has Varahi. The Vedas speak of Agni, the fire god, having two mothers! Must this be taken literally or metaphorically? Metaphorically, it refers to the fire-sticks that are drilled to create the fire for the yagna. Some believe sex must be only for producing children, some believe sex should only be between people in love, while some believe sex is just a form of pleasure and must not be taken too seriously. The extent of regulation varies depending on context. Just as heterosexual desire needs to be regulated, so does homosexual desire. Thus homosexuality is seen as a manifestation of karma. We are creatures of karma, and our actions contribute to our future karma. While in many (not all) Abrahamic traditions, homosexuality is seen as an act against God, in Hindu traditions, homosexuality is seen as part of karma. Such tales, of God prohibiting certain sexual acts but allowing others, are not found in Hindu mythology. What is curious is that shortly after this incident, the patriarch Lot, who flees Sodom and Gomorrah before they are destroyed, has sex with his daughters, and his incestuous act is not punished by God.ĭante and Virgil in Hell by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
The queer supporters interpret the story differently, that the city dwellers were not good hosts, and that they raped their guests. The anti-queer lobby says city dwellers indulged in homosexuality.
What these acts were is open to interpretation, depending on how you read the old Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek scripts. It involves a reading – some would say a deliberate misreading – of a tale where God destroys the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone because they perform acts that go against God’s commandment. Before we answer this question, we must keep in mind that the current laws against homosexuality in India are based on colonial laws, which are based on Abrahamic mythology.