DesiPundit

After matching up couples in marital bliss (or sorrow), astrology is now believed to detect homosexuality. And they said, things wouldn’t get any weirder.

India has a problem addressing all forms of sexuality. Extramarital affairs are commonplace, and though no one wants to say that sex happens before marriage, droves of teenage girls come home pregnant every day because they never received sex education. Homosexuality is demonized in the media and everyday discourse, and millions of people are forced into arranged heterosexual marriages while they clearly lust after something else.

Amused by an old woman jumping to conclusions in Dharamsala, Scott Carney at Trailing Technology points to media’s ignorance of the gay culture in India and their tendency to project homosexuality as something evil [hat tip: Shivam].

Yazad talks of criminalizing consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex.

Through Vikram Doctor and Titoo Ahluwalia I received an email about the medieval and abhorrent Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature� with punishment upto life imprisonment. Section 377 is being challenged by various groups in the Delhi High Court lead by Naz India, a Delhi based NGO dealing with HIV/AIDS communication in the queer community.

Where do Islam and homosexuality intersect? How does one reconcile the reality of one’s sexuality to one’s need for religion or spirituality? Morofilm points to ‘Name of Allah’, a film that explores Islam and homosexuality.

As a result, many gay and lesbian Muslims end up renouncing their religion. But the real-life characters of ‘In the Name of Allah’ aren’t willing to abandon a faith they cherish, despite its flaws. Instead, they struggle to reconcile their ardent belief with the innate reality of their being…. The international chorus of gay, lesbian and transgender Muslims brought together by ‘In the Name of Allah’ doesn’t seek to vilify or reject Islam, but rather negotiate a new relationship to it.