The Indian Supreme Court has taken up the issue of marriage equality, with a five-judge constitution bench hearing petitions from four same-sex couples. The case has the potential to be India’s Obergefell v. Hodges. The Modi government has opposed the issue, stating that marriage is accepted “statutorily, religiously and socially” only between a biological man and a biological woman.
But this is where it is wrong. This shortsighted view goes against their own beliefs in Hinduism. A minister from Modi’s party, Sushil Kumar Modi in his statement has said, “Don’t make India like America” blaming liberals for wanting to imitate Western nations. Perhaps the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party needs to dig deeper into the ancient Indian texts to learn more about India’s wide-open stance of sex and gender relations.
Hinduism has for centuries been accepting of same sex love and relationships. The Kama Sutra, a compendium on desire and relations, written around the fourth century by Vatsyayana describes homosexual acts and homosexuality as prevalent and an accepted part of society. Similarly, religious and historical texts provide stories of transgender individuals, including various male gods who take the female form.
One such story is that of when Lord Vishnu becomes Mohini, a honey trap in the fight between Asuras (Demons) and Devas (Gods) for the treasured Soma-ras (An elixir of immortality). Mohini manages to seduce the Asuras and ends up giving all the Soma-ras to the Devas. In various Puranas (ancient Hindu texts, which contain stories and discourses of philosophy, cosmology and geography) there are accounts of Lord Shiva lusting after Lord Vishnu in his Mohini form. Similarly, there are accounts of transgender individuals in the two famous epics of India, Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Apart from literature, within ancient Indian society, sex and gender…
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