Religious Left

Pink News UK (New Delhi) - - - Stressing that morality cannot overshadow fundamental rights of a citizen, gay rights activists on Thursday argued before the Delhi High Court for decriminalisation of homosexuality among consenting adults. The moral argument cannot triumph over the constitutional rights in a democratic society where fundamental rights prohibit any discrimination on the ground of sex, said advocate Shyam Diwan, appearing on behalf of the activists. He also added that homosexuals in the country do not have full moral citizenship and they are being treated as second-class citizens. A bench comprising of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar was hearing a petition filed by 13 NGOs, including Naz Foundation, seeking the court’s direction to decriminalise homosexual acts among consenting adults by amending Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The greatest threat that India faces today is the curse of religious fascism. First, it was savage violence unleashed on thousands of Christians in Orissa by mobs of disgusting thugs. Read this post to know more . Then the violence spread to other states in India like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. All these states have governments run by the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political party which is a part of the umbrella of organisations known as the Sangh Parivar which includes organisations like the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Sri Ram Sena. Read full article here comment: Once again religion (which is supposed to be about LOVE) equates to violence! Once again the "morality" of religion is in question. I suggest religion itself is in question.

LankaWeb Homosexuality is the tendency to be sexually attracted to persons of the same rather than the opposite gender. According to the ancient Indian understanding, homosexuals were thought of simply as being 'the third nature' (tritiya prakti), rather than as perverted, deviant or sick. With its emphasis on psychology and cause and effect, Buddhism judges acts, including sexual acts, primarily by the intention (cetana) behind them and the effect they have. A sexual act motivated by love, mutuality and the desire to give and share would be judged positive no matter what the gender of the two persons involved. Therefore, homosexuality as such is not considered immoral in Buddhism or against the third precept, although this is not always understood in traditional Buddhist countries. full article

New America Media, Commentary, Sandip Roy SAN FRANCISCO – When I left India for America, my aunts worried about who I might end up marrying. “I hope you’ll marry another Bengali,” an aunt told me. Over the years that relaxed to, “I hope she’s a Hindu, even if she’s not Bengali.” Then it became, “At least another Indian,” until finally we reached, “I hope you’ll get married to someone before we all die.” She probably didn’t mean another man. But now it might just happen. Same-sex marriage is on a roll in California. First a Republican-dominated Supreme Court said there was no reason gays and lesbians couldn’t get married. Now there comes a new Field poll that says that, for the first time ever, a majority of Californians think same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. full article

by Sanjaya Jena BBC News An Indian tribe has given its consent to a lesbian 'marriage' in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Both the women are day labourers and now live together in Dandabadi village. Same-sex relationships are outlawed in India. The 145-year-old colonial Indian Penal Code clearly describes a same sex relationship as an "unnatural offence". full article

The Times of India KATHMANDU: Nepal will get its first openly gay politician after he was selected to represent a small communist party in the new constituent assembly, a party official said on Thursday. "We have chosen Sunil Babu Pant as our candidate to ensure the rights of gay and other minority groups," Ganesh Shah, general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (United), said. "He will be the first person to represent Nepal's gay community." Pant is head of the Blue Diamond Society, the only gay rights group in Nepal. full article

I am 21. I am an engineering student. And I am a gay. I am writing this article because I am angry, frustrated and feel unbearably suffocated in my closet. I realised I was gay by the time I was 14. No, I never had any 'bad experience' in my childhood that made me 'turn gay'. No uncle or elder cousin ever molested me. I am gay because I believe I was born gay. God or nature, whatever one believes in, made me what I am. Just as some people are blonde or left-handed, sexual orientation is also a feature that is decided biologically. Modern technology can determine the sexual orientation of a child even before he is born. The WHO has removed homosexuality from its list of psychological disorders. Yet, some people would like to believe otherwise. They would say that if everyone were gay, there would be no society. This is a dishonest argument for the simple reason that everyone is not gay. They say it's against the Bible - an abomination of God. But if Christians can ch...