So I just came back from a very adventurous trip to India two weeks ago and while I was there I took a look at their LGBTQ culture a bit (well as much as I could). What I found was interesting! Okay.... so India..... 84% of the population are Hindus, Islam is 12%, and Christianity makes up 2% of the population. Buddhism makes up less than 1% actually. Interestingly, while you would expect there to be very few Christians in India there are actually more Christians in India than in Australia and several European countries combined. Needless to say, I actually saw Christmas decorations in India of all places. All of these religions live together in harmony in India and even if you are not a Muslim in India, you still celebrate Ramadan or at the very least wish your Muslim neighbors the best in celebrating. ANYWAYS..... so where I am going with this? Well.... none of these religions are okay with gay relationships right? (Aside from some branches of Christianity which by the way don't exist in India). So you would assume that people who are gay in India would keep it to themselves right? Because gosh darn they can flaunt it! That's right! What I found out is that in India it is socially acceptable for FRIENDS of the same sex to hold hands in public. They do it all the time. I saw a lot (and I mean a lot) of male friends holding hands. "But okay so you said FRIENDS.... I don't get it" Well think about it, if you are gay you can totally be out with your boyfriend/girlfriend and no one will notice because it is socially acceptable to hold hands with friends. As you can imagine there are probably a lot of gay couples in India who do this. And here is my second thing for my trans friends on Empty Closet: I saw two trans women out shopping together and no one took notice of them. Isn't that fabulous? Maybe the world is heading in a positive direction after all! Thanks for letting me share! Have anything else to share? Did you go someplace on a trip and see something different about LGBTQ culture while you were there?
Actually, people of the same sex holding hands as friends is very common throughout africa, the middle east, south asia, and eastern europe. I don't know about south east asia though. It's only in the US and Canada where i have seen this being considered taboo, I've never really understood why?
Ah interesting, really? I'm honestly not very surprised. I was talking to a friend who went to Rwanda and we were talking about the similarities between Indian and Rwandan culture. Every culture is different. I am not sure why it is considered taboo in North America but I think that a lot of it probably has to do with peoples' own insecurities and their relationship to Christianity. I think that generally speaking touching someone else out of a committed relationship has just been frowned upon in our culture for a long time. Idk, that was just a wild guess.
Yes, it is quite common (my parents are Christians from India!), but that is largely because of segregation of the sexes. You won't see many heterosexual couples holding hands unless they are married (dating is largely discouraged and only recently emerging for young adults). I think the taboo status in the US is partially due to homophobia that has treated holding hands as somehow effeminate for men because they may be considered a couple (and yet women get a free pass...). This reminds me of an interesting BBC article about a gay Indian couple: Life as a gay couple in India - BBC News
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing! I wish the U.S. and Canada were more accepting of some physical contact between friends. I noticed the same thing when I went to Costa Rica once. The school kids would hold hands, even young boys and girls without anyone teasing them for being a couple, and they would even dance together. Didn't notice anything about LGBT+ culture there but I hope other people have stories, this is an interesting thread. If anyone's interested, Ellen Page is going to be doing this show called Gaycation where she and a friend go around to different countries to learn about their LGBT+ culture and how it's different from place to place. http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/around-the-world-with-ellen#.cyEWo93MX
When you think of it, most cultures have a lot more in common than they have don't have in common. It's wierd and very interesting. I think holding hands in the west being taboo has to do with christianity, and also how until recently society was so "macho" (you swing like a girl! Be a man! Boys can hold hands until they're 9!) so yeah, i guess boys have been taught that it's not ok to be super close with male friends, but girls can be, since they're the "weaker" ones. It's really just a remnant of backwards thinking.
That is really cute, thanks for sharing. Yea, I saw that new show the other day! I forgot about that so thanks for sharing! ---------- Post added 2nd Feb 2016 at 02:02 AM ---------- Yea I completely agree with you on both notes. Random question but have you ever heard of a 'Bio Data'? If you know what it is then you will laugh your pants off at me asking. I just found out about it the other day while watching a documentary. I'm really into sociology and find stuff like that fascinating. Thanks for sharing the BBC article. I think that they are an adorkable couple!
In the US people didn't know about gay people much, guys showered together and swam naked frequently; in the US people are more aware of sexuality, every (young) guy is a prude. In India the concept of homosexuality is not out in the open as in the US so there aren't many connotations of sexuality in handholding. I'd say as a country goes through "sexual liberalization," people realize there are gay people and try to publicly distance themselves from anything "gay" (and by people I mean guys). Just a hunch.
I asked my Indian friend about this and she said "Guys holding hands? No!!" So it's safe to assume the holding hand thingy is varied from region to region and each place will have what it's considerable appropriate behavior. Given that India is really big and diverse, Indians probably surprise themselves all the time. To the OP, which part of India have you been?
I was in the north western part of India (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur). If your friend has grown up in western culture then they might view it differently. But you are right, India is really big and diverse and you might be right. I know that there are islands in the south of India that had been heavily influenced by Spanish culture at one point (when the Spaniards came over).
Hey, I'm an Indian Holding hands isn't a big deal in India, guys do it all the time. But usually older men and younger children hold hands, teenagers are prudy about it. Although now it seems to be fading. In India, sex still is a taboo, something spoken of only in hushed voices etc, so homosexuality and LGBT+ is something waaay beyond that, unfortunately. But teenagers can be a huge pain at times. Especially if you are a guy and are close friends with another guy, you will be grilled. It sucks Although girls are less prudish about it, they can hug, hold hands etc and no one seems to give a rat's ass about it.
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing! If you don't mind, what are your thoughts on this article about being gay in India?
Yay! Thanks for sharing! :icon_bigg That does suck though that you can get grilled for hand holding. I think that you would find the same thing in American culture. It is more acceptable for women to hug and hold hands than it is for men to do so.
The article, its true... Yeah, the section 377 criminalises any sex which is not of natural order. That includes oral and anal sex too :dry: The section is being reviewed now. Hopefully, it would be scrapped.
Correct me if im wrong, but ive seen straight female friends do that in the US. It's just not guys. If one of my straight friends tried to hold my hand i would prob tell him to f*ck off, that's weird as hell! Other cultures have their own normal's though. I find it interesting that everybody in argentina kisses each other, for example.
Who ever wrote the article, summed it up quite well. I've read stories of men coming out or getting caught by police in public and tortured, literally. I dunno the amount of truth in it, but it is disturbing. ^ This. 100% True and scary. I'm an Indian too. This is what keeps me from getting on the rooftop and yelling to the world that I'm gay.
