Gay, but not carefree
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/09/14/stories/2008091450130400.htmVIJAY NAGASWAMI
9/13/2008
Most people have mixed feelings when it comes to gays, lesbians and homosexuality. There are, as there usually are, extreme reactions. The conservatives would have us believe that homosexuality is unnatural and therefore execrable and condemnable. They agitate for more stringent legislation against gay people and are smugly satisfied with Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises carnal activity "against the order of nature" and therefore, gay sex. At the other end of the spectrum exist the activists who stridently proclaim that gayness is superior behaviour and a sign of great creativity, for, many of the world's leading artistes have been known to be gay. And somewhere in between are the liberals who have mixed feelings. While they vaguely believe that it is the right of the individual to choose whether to be gay or straight, they're not quite sure how they'd handle it if a member of their own family announced that s/he was homosexual.
