Michael Illovsky, PhD, Acting Director of Western Illinois University's Counseling Center, wrote the following information in his 2002 book Mental Health Professionals, Minorities and the Poor:
"Prior to colonization by England, it seems that there was a wide range of practices at different times and places [in India].
Regarding what the ancient scriptures say about homosexuality, it seems
to be a moot topic. There do not seem to be clear, definitive
statements as to its morality or immorality... There are people who
state that the ancient scriptures (e.g., the Vedas) are silent on the
subject. Others write that the ancient literature condemned it. And
others write that it is condoned. Some state that propagation is the
foundation of Hinduism; therefore, homosexuality is an antithesis to
this value. Some of those who believe that ancient India condoned
homosexuality base their case on the fact that there are many ancient
visual depictions of homosexual acts (e.g., temple carvings), as well
as literary descriptions (e.g., the Karma Sutra) of homosexuality.
What is clear is that in present-day India, homosexuality is not
condoned and is often condemned."
Anil Bhanot, General Secretary of the Hindu Council UK, wrote in a July 2, 2009 article titled "Hinduism Does Not Condemn Gay People," published on guardian.co.uk, the online version of the Guardian:
"The ancient Hindu scriptures
describe the homosexual condition to be a biological one, and although
the scripture gives guidance to parents on how to avoid procreating a
homosexual child, it does not condemn the child as unnatural...
According
to the scripture the sex of a child is determined by whether the fire
element is dominant or the water element is dominant. Thus during those
even nights the fire element dominates giving a male conception and
during those odd nights the water element gives a female conception.
However, if the fire element equals the water element then a homosexual
conception takes place.
The
point here is that the homosexual nature is part of the natural law of
God; it should be accepted for what it is, no more and no less...
Homosexuals
are full human beings, who in Hinduism even worship their own deity,
the Mother Goddess Bahuchara, for their spiritual link to the Absolute
Brahm."
Ruth Vanita, PhD, Professor of Women's Studies Program at University of Montana, wrote in a 2005 article "Hinduism and Sexuality" for the Human Rights Campaign web site:
"Several modern Hindu teachers emphasize that all desire, homosexual or heterosexual, is the same, and that aspirants must work through and transcend desire. For example:
Hindu philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti said that homosexuality, like heterosexuality, has been a fact for thousands of years, and that it becomes a problem only because humans focus too much on sex.
When asked about homosexuality, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the international Art of Living movement, said, 'Every individual has both male and female in them. Sometimes one dominates, sometimes other; it is all fluid.'
Mathematician Shakuntala Devi, in her 1977 book The World of Homosexuals, interviewed Srinivasa Raghavachariar, head priest of the Srirangam temple. Raghavachariar said that same-sex partners must have been cross-sex partners in a former life. The sex may change, he said, but the soul retains its attachments; hence love impels them toward one another."
The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association (GALVA), posted on its website in an article titled "The Case For Gay Tolerance: Third-Gender Relationships in Gaudiya Vaishnavism"(accessed Sep. 7, 2006):
"The Kama Shastra and other sociological and moral texts of Vedic India demonstrate the acceptance of three genders in their society, viz., pums-prakriti (men), striya-prakriti (women), and tritiya-prakriti (third gender), comprising napumsaka (gay males) and svairini (lesbians)...
Neuters, asexuals, and bisexuals were similarly a part of society and were mentioned in many secular and religious documents."
Devdutt Pattanaik, MBBS, mythology expert and author, stated in his 2001 book The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales of Hindu Lore:
"For society, bad karma is that which
threatens social stability. In a heterosexual and patriarchal
construct, sex change, cross-dress, same-sex intercourse, and other
'queer' activities are bound to be considered undesirable, as they
threaten the dominant discourse. Unlike marriage that brings about an
acceptable compromise between the twin goals of procreation (for
dharma) and renunciation (for moksha), homosexual union brings together
two ritually polluting factors: sterility and lust."
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder of the Hare Krishna movement, in his 1977 commentary upon the spiritual Hindu classic Srimad-Bhagavatam wrote:
"It appears here [in Srimad-Bhagavatam] that the homosexual appetite of males for each other is created in this episode of the creation of the demons by Brahma. In other words, the homosexual appetite of a man for another man is demoniac and is not for any sane male in the ordinary course of life."
Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, former President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad political party, in a May 14, 2004 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle stated:
"Making homosexuality legal will be an attack on Indian society. For Hindus, this kind of behavior is not just against nature, it is against our culture."
K.C. Abraham, PhD, Vice-President of the Church of South India, and Ajit K. Abraham, ThD, a minister with the Church of South India, in an article titled "Homosexuality: Some Reflections From India - Homosexuality: Some Elements for an Ecumenical Discussion" published in the Jan. 1998 issue of The Ecumenical Review, wrote:
"Although these [homosexual] practices are referred to in the traditional Hindu literature and religious mythology, the general attitude towards homosexuality has tended to be disapproval. As editor of the journal Young India, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in 1929 about the 'unnatural vice' in boys' school."
Peer-Reviewed Studies on the Origin of Sexual Orientation Since 1990
