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by Anonymous on November 17th, 2005

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Do Hindus have a particular stance on homosexuality?

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  • by Alatea on March 3rd, 2006

    Alatea

    Hinduism defines homosexuality as an inborn nature rather than an acquired sin. Sacred texts describe homosexuality as a third sex or nature ('tritiya-prakriti') - a combination of male and female qualities, and the Hindu law book, "Manusmriti" (3.49), specifically points out that the third sex is inborn and determined during the earliest periods of fetal development. The Kama Shastra describes all of the various types of homosexuals (both masculine and feminine) along with their different sexual practices and professions in ancient Indian society such as barbers, masseurs, flower-sellers, house attendants, prostitutes, etc.

    The Indian Kama Sutra contains many passages describing "third-sex" men performing oral sex on other men, with techniques on maximizing pleasure and without any controversy or condemnation. Similarly, ancient Hindu temples and artifacts openly depict both male homosexuality and lesbianism within their carvings--lending legitimacy to claims that both Hindu society and religion were previously much more open to variations in human sexuality than they are at present. During Muslim rule (from the 10th to the 18th centuries A.D.), Middle-eastern customs were introduced into India such as the castration of male servants ('hijras') and pederasty. These were openly practiced by Muslims and Sikhs in the North while largely overlooked by Hindus in the South. During British control, Hinduism became markedly antagonistic toward homosexuality. Hindus adopted British Victorian values and superimposed them upon the hijras and homosexuals of the third sex. Consequently, homosexuality, crossdressing, and other similar practices that were formerly legal in Hindu society were outlawed and criminalized by the British during the 19th century. These nontraditional laws and attitudes persist down to this day.

    In Hinduism many divinities are androgynous. There are Hindu deities who are hermaphrodite (both male and female); who manifest in all three genders; who switch from male to female or from female to male; male deites with female moods and female deities with male moods; deities born from two males or from two females; deities born from a single male or single female; deities who avoid the opposite sex; deities with principal companions of the same sex, and so on and so forth. One of the most important aspects of Hinduism is the belief that both God and nature are unlimitedly diverse, and Hinduism's traditional acceptance of homosexuality and a third sex is simply one more aspect of this belief.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_and_sexual_orientation

    Comments

    • I had no idea. That's very enlightening. So, is homosexuality not frowned upon in (the Hindu parts of) India as much as other countries?

      Vashtar

      by Vashtar on July 13th, 2011

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