A year after the Supreme Court decriminalized homosexuality and adultery, the Indian army reportedly wants such acts to be “punishable offences to ensure discipline”. The Army has approached the Ministry of defense raising concerns over the same. The Army remains steadfast that it will not tolerate homosexuality or adultery in its ranks.
-It’s time that we give up the archaic laws and practices, especially the ones which discriminate between people based on their sexual orientation. And rightly so, the Supreme Court of India has decriminalized homosexuality, in a step forward. The Army being quoted as saying that homosexuality is not ethical, is a transgression from the judgment of the court as well as is a way to uphold the discriminatory practices which have been used to hinder the voice of one group of people.
Homosexuality is also not the same as adultery; and to talk about both in the same sentence is similar to saying that homosexuality is a choice, when it is actually not. Adultery is a choice; whatever the circumstances the person can exercise a certain degree of control before committing adultery. Homosexuality is not a choice; it’s as natural as heterosexuality and as natural as the existence of man, animals and trees.
The army’s stance in this matter is just indicative of the long road ahead which people from the queer community have yet to travel and even though the law now protects them, patriarchal institutions such as the defense forces will continue to exercise control over people’s personal preferences, in an attempt to censor any attempts by the community to lead the so called normal life.
Such news and attempts should be gravely criticized by the society and at least the mental health community. It’s almost as if the army is saying that across the 12 lakh members of the defense forces, there is no one who is queer!!?
-Shobhika Jaju
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