Zeitgeist (Spirit of the Time): Sexual rights

Fashion Forecasting
Submitted by: Pranav Kotgire Sayantani Saha Sanghamitra Kalita
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Sexual Rights in India

Sexual rights is as much a human right as right to life and freedom is, but in India, it is a taboo to talk it. For as long as human beings have existed, there have been heterosexuals, homosexuals and transgenders. However in India, sexual rights have not been given the importance it deserves. Our government and many others believe that homosexuals and transgenders do not have rights and India has far more important issues than sexuality. But if development is to be seen as the process of expanding the real freedoms of people, then the freedom to express one's sexual orientation or gender identity is a development issue as important as any other. 2

 The fight for sexual rights in the West has had an effect in India. People became more open about their sexual orientation in India and have only begun fighting for their rights.
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Section 377 of IPC

Section 377 of the IPC was introduced during the British rule of India in 1861. This section was declared unconstitutional with respect to sex between consenting adults by the Delhi High Court in 2009. That judgment was overturned by the Supreme Court on 11 December 2013, with the Court holding that amending or repealing Section 377 should be a matter left to Parliament, not the judiciary.
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What led to the 2009 decision?

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and acclaimed writer Vikram Seth publicly demanded the repeal of section 377 in 2006. PM Manmohan Singh called for greater tolerance towards homosexuals.

In December 2002, Naz India filed a PIL to challenge IPC section 377 in the Delhi High Court, after which it was decriminalized in 2009.
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Newspapers from 2009 hail the HC decision decriminalizing homosexuality

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 Attitudes towards homosexuality shifted slightly after 2009. More discussions of homosexuality in the Indian news media and by Bollywood. Organisations like the Naz Foundation Trust, the National AIDS Control Organisation expressed support for decriminalizing homosexuality in India. However, political parties like BJP firmly opposed it, saying, Gay sex is immoral and unnatural and Indian society does not approve of it.
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In 2005, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, who hails from Gujarat, publicly came out as gay. He became the first openly gay royal. Same-sex marriages are not legal in India. But that did not stop a Gurgaon court in 2011 from effectively recognising a marriage between two women. In California too, an Indian woman married her long-term girlfriend last year.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-0729/gurgaon/29828761_1_gurgaon-court-lesbian-marriage-legal-marriage
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Gay Pride Walk

On 29 June 2008, five Indian cities (Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata , Indore and Pondicherry) celebrated gay pride parades for the first time in India. The number of people attending the parade has seen a gradual increase with over 30,000 people attending it in cities like Mumbai. In Chennai, however, the parade was not very successful and only 450 people took part in it in 2013.

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A high-profile Indian psychiatrist, Dr. Indira Sharma, described homosexuality as unnatural and something that can be changed with psychiatric help. She made the comments during a recent panel discussion on the Indian Supreme Courts ruling last month recriminalizing gay sex.
Source: TOI report (21.01.2014) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topi c/IPC-Section-37713

2013: An important year for gay rights

A prominent gay Australian politician, Ian Hunter, married his longtime partner recently in southern Spain, two months after his country voted down a proposal to enact same-sex marriage legislation. NBA player Jason Collins, 34, became the first athlete to come out as gay. Same sex marriage was legalized in 8 American states and in Brazil and France. However, in Russia, gay propaganda was banned.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/19/ianhunter-gay-australian-politician-spain-wedding_n_2330266.html

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Social media
Tanmay Sahay created a Facebook event page encouraging people to show their support by kissing a friend of the same gender in protest of the law. Over 2,000 people signing up and hundreds uploading photographs of them kissing friends. Many also changed their relationship status.

source: https://www.facebook.com/events/599831146757078/

On Facebook 'status' messages were dedicated to the issue. "I am criminal and so are you..." read one status message by a member of the LGBT community, while another lamented, "I cannot believe it. oh my god...crawl back to the closet they say. what a shame!" Source: twitter

Marathi movie Umbartha (Threshold) (1981)

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Music
Everyone is gay - A Great Big World Glad to be gay- Tom Robinson Boy girl- U2 Born this way- Lady Gaga

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Magazines

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Homosexual celebrities
Ricky Martin & Adam Lambart open about being gay and so is Neil Patrick Harris and Elton John

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How it affected fashion?

The line between menswear and womens wear have blurred today. Women are seen sporting bow ties and pant suits and androgyny became a huge trend. Men wear the colour pink, earlier known as a feminine colour and floral prints. Not just gay men and women, even heterosexuals are seen sporting these trends.
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How it influenced womens fashion

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Homosexual fashion designers

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What do people say about gay rights

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/162398/sexmarriage-support-solidifies-above.aspx

Source: talkingpointsmemo.com

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Conclusion
Sexual rights is a prominent zeitgeist of the recent times which has affected many. Homosexuals have shed their fears and have come out on the open. It has affected fashion and music majorly. There are fashion and lifestyle blogs dedicated to gay fashion and also websites exclusively for gay music. Though in India, this movement is in its nascent stage, there is a lot of scope for acceptance and we will have to wait and watch how this affects fashion.
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References
gay-chronicles.com Facebook Twitter The Times of India firstpost.com The Hindu indiatoday.in http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/19/ianhunter-gay-australian-politician-spain-wedding_n_2330266.html

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Thank you

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