Naveen is a disturbed man. While his family was insisting that he should marry and settle down , he was sure he wouldn't be happy with a woman and lead a normal life. For, he was a homosexual and secretly met male friends. But he was also ashamed about his abnormal trait and did not want the family to know his preference for a male. His is a typical case that worries thousands of gays in the Indian society.   

 India is the world’s largest democracy, yet its laws remain as outdated as ever. Indian laws are still governed by the British Raj which introduced colonial laws in India and other colonised countries in that period. However, though many laws have been amended, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code still needs amendment and of late has been challenged by voluntary organisations. According to Section 377, gay sex is illegal, but lesbian sex is not mentioned. Homosexuality is punishable under the provisions and the offence is called sodomy. There has been no change with regard to the concept of this offence and its administration by the Indian courts. The law says that "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature, with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine."

Penetration is sufficient to constitute carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section. The form of homosexuality, which is reported either by the police or society, is generally related to use of force by the one over the other, though even if there was consent of any of the partners, the offence is not mitigated. It is considered to be an offence against society, therefore, the legal system is obliged to punish all those who are proved to have indulged in it for correctional purposes.

It is due to the prevalence of such laws that many gays in India are ostracised in society, blackmailed by those who stumble upon their sexual behaviour, either family or neighbours or prying relatives, etc. They are thrown out of jobs, too. Of late, a number of Western countries have accepted homosexual behaviour in individuals and they are no longer discriminated against, unlike in India. In an attempt to bring some semblance of respect for homosexuals, a voluntary organisation working for AIDS awareness, Naz, has filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminally penalises what is termed as "unnatural offences", in so far as the provision affects private sexual acts between consenting adults.

Says Shaleen Rakesh of Naz, who works with MSM or gay men who have sex with men: "Our main work is with a section of men who are vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS. During the process of our work, we discovered that the best way is to promote respect and protect human rights of vulnerable populations, especially the MSM community. For that, we need to change the draconian Section 377 as it is an infringement of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India."

The petition states that Section 377 is meant to criminalise sexual acts, which are against the order of nature. This provision is based upon traditional Judeo-Christian moral and ethical standards which conceive of sex in purely functional terms, that is for the purpose of procreation only. A non-procreative sexual activity is thus viewed as being against the order of nature. Since homosexual behaviour is a crime under the provisions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, therefore, organisations of homosexuals are not permitted as legal bodies. However, in Mumbai and Delhi, there are groups that hang out together. There have been demonstrations outside the office of the World Health Organisation in Delhi by homosexual groups after the report that homosexuality is responsible for the spread of the AIDS virus.

What is punishable is the act of homosexual behaviour and not discussion or talking about it or its representation. While in India, people tend to avoid talk of sex or homosexuality, yet it does not mean that it is not prevalent. Says Rakesh: "A study shows that 30-40 per cent of men in big cities are gay, though they may not accept it openly. We cannot say the same for smaller cities as in bigger cities there is a lot of migrant population that sleeps on roads, streets or parks and indulges in homosexual acts. They do not admit it because it is very difficult for them to break the cultural social pattern . The concept of homosexuality as a form of co-habitation or of an enjoyable union of two individuals, is unacceptable in India .

There was a case of two women police constables who were relieved from service, when their lesbian union became public, a few years ago. In the early Nineties too, two girl friends who could not stay away from each other, decided to marry each other after one of them underwent surgery and became a male. There was a huge hue-and-cry but the two friends were happily married. Therefore, homosexual contacts are as common here as in other cultures. One of the main reasons for MSM in India is that pre-marital sexual contact between men and women is very difficult. It is therefore quite common for young men to have sex. It is often not defined as sex, though, but masti—or "mischief." Sex is between a husband and wife.

Women are considered to be the property of men for sex satisfaction, therefore, such defiance of these notions is not easily tolerated. Moreover, tolerance towards homosexuals is very much related to the place one lives in. In big cities, it is more tolerated than in small towns. Bisexuality, outside marriage is not respectfully looked at and can be an offence even within marriage if it falls within the definition of an unnatural act. However, the degree of its offensiveness would again depend upon the location, with which such behaviour is connected. In big cosmopolitan cities, it may spark off more individual concern than of the general public but in small places, it can lead to social ostracism. The knowledge of the existence of women with homosexual tendencies is very little in India, though fiction/literature does exist about it, mainly with a view to describe the lives of social outcast women, rape victims, women not sought after for marriage or other kinds of unmarried women.