Unnatural

Published on 16th September, 2018, in The Indian Express. First, they said it was unnatural. Then zoologists revealed that same-sex intercourse is seen in over 500 species of animals. Then they said it was against culture. Then sociologists, anthropologists and literature students revealed over 50 words in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil that referred to non-heteronormative genders and sexualities used in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain literature. They pointed to temple art and rituals that used queer metaphors to explain metaphysical ideas. In Goswami Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, composed 500 years ago in Awadhi, they found couplets spoken where Ram tells Kakabhusandi, “Nar, napunsak, nari, va jiva, chara-char koi; ..