Against the Order of Nature

First there was Sadanand Gowda the Union Law minister saying, “India could abolish Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises gay liaisons and the legalisation of same-sex marriages could be considered.” Then there was Sadanand Gowda saying that he had said no such thing and that he had been misquoted.

Then came my favourite gadfly Subramanian Swamy with his statement that Gowda was obviously misquoted because the party position is that “homosexuality is a genetic disorder”.

All this left me scratching my head in some degree of confusion, did the Union Law minister say it or not? The; did he, didn’t he; question was resolved easily. No, in spite of people spewing venom at him, he did not explicitly say that. What he said was “The mood appears to be in favour of it. But it can be done only after widespread consultations and taking all views into account,” which is quite different from saying the government is about to abolish Section 377.  

So, while I am no longer confused about Sadanand Gowda’s statement I am still confused about why Section 377 still exists.

IPC Section 377 states: "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 1[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine".

All this is very nice and cute, but what on earth is this carnal act that is against the order of nature? How do you define ‘Order of Nature’? My understanding is that when you call an act ‘against the Order of Nature’ you are stating that nowhere in nature does this kind of act take place.  

If that is the thought then let’s take a look at the Birds and the Bees and everything in between because nature does seem to have some really interesting ways to have sex.

The male Argentine lake duck measures about 17 inches in all. Now that also happens to be the length of its penis. Yeah, quite the stud boy, the Lake Duck. Though, one must say, humans wanting to attain this kind of body proportion might be better off not managing said body proportion. So what does the dude do with his 17-inch dick? He uses it to brush away sperms deposited by a previous suitor. And, almost forgot mentioning this . . . The drake also uses it to “lasso" a female who tries to escape from it.

Want to try insects? Let’s take the busiest of the lot, the Honey Bee. We have proverbs about them, don’t we? Maybe it is time we have proverbs about the Queen’s sex life. Here is what happens. A select few drones are chosen go on a mating flight with the Virgin Queen. During the mating session, their genitals explode and snap off inside the queen. Ouch and more ouch.

Want to dive into the ocean and see how they lead their ‘natural life’? Cichlid fish eggs are fertilized by the male … Yeah, I know, all of us know that. We are very knowledgeable. But, hey they fertilise the egg while the eggs are being carried in the female's mouth. Aah!

Homosexuality is quite common among dolphins and killer whales. Who knew?

The Dwarf chimpanzee is one of humanity's closest relatives. I hope there is no controversy regarding that, is there? Guess what, the entire species is bisexual.

Homosexuality has also been observed in the poster boys of manhood – Lions. Male lions usually band together with their brothers to lead the pride. And how do the brothers strengthen their bonds? They strengthen the bonds by having sex with each other.

Now that we are done with looking at the Birds & Bees, let’s get back to defining ‘Against the Order of Nature’, shall we?

I am sure not too many men (and definitely not in India) have lassoed their women using their dick, since this does happen in nature, by not doing this are we going against nature?

How about the explosive sex life of the drone? NO one is particularly fond of exploding any part of his anatomy. Let alone --- you know what. So does that make men guilty of NOT following the order of nature?

There is bi-sexuality and homosexuality in the animal kingdom. The King of Jungle does it with pride. So, in reality, by NOT engaging in homosexual and bi-sexual activity are we guilty of going against the order of Nature?

I seek enlightenment because the entire IPC Section 377 is based on sexual activities that are ‘Against the Order of Nature’ and that Order of Nature itself is so very difficult to define. This just doesn’t make sense to me and seems grossly unfair.

And while my search for enlightenment continues how about just leaving the LGBT community to live and love as they like to? How does a person’s sexual orientation impact society so long as its expression is behind closed doors and is consensual? I certainly do not believe that society can be perverted because of homosexual or bi-sexual acts by consenting individuals. Let the LGBT community lead their lives in peace and with dignity and be treated as equals in society in all aspects of their lives. That is the least that an India of today can do.