India's gays awaken to bad dream

[bloodyjack]

Taken from SF Chronicle

New Delhi -- When Raju Sharma's father discovered his son was gay three months ago, he got a rope.

He hanged Sharma, 23, by the ankles from the first floor balcony of their New Delhi flat and threatened to kill any neighbor who tried to rescue him.

Sharma says he dangled for an hour before his dad pulled him up, stripped him naked and tossed him into the street. He stood there sobbing, covering his genitals with his hands, as onlookers mocked him for lacking the courage to fight.

"My father is quiet now," says Sharma, a slight man with a lisp and plucked eyebrows. "But the shame is still there."

It's a damned shame, since India has so much potential and at the same time all of these bass-ackwards social stigmas. From caste to skin color to sexual orientation, you just haven't a chance if you weren't conceived in the right place at the right time by the right couple. Perhaps—just perhaps!—it has something to do with the 60% literacy rate and (STEALTH EDIT) 48% female literacy rate.

[WMliberal]

1. "awaken to a bad dream"

ugh... gotta love those mixed metaphors...
how do these people get jobs in journalism?

[Cerridwen]

2. Er, I think the cause of the 70% male population is

caused by the attitudes you list rather than the other way around; or maybe it's a catch 22 situation.

There is such a low value of female life and such greed for female dowries that they frequently abort female fetuses and literaly burn their brides in order to free themselves to acquire a new one.

I can't speak to the literacy rate.

[bloodyjack]

4. Countries with higher literacy rates among women

tend to be more forward-thinking. That's why I was citing the gender distribution and literacy stats.

The dowry system—just like sati—has been outlawed for a while now, but is very much in practice in rural areas (i.e., most of India)

edit: I've heard about the aborting of female foetuses but not about husbands setting their wives ablaze so they can remarry.

[loathesomeshrub]

6. I think what they do is kill girl babies n/t

[Cerridwen]

8. Bride Burnings, I'll find a link for ya. edited with link

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/18/bride.burn/

Oh, geez, just googled india bride burnings

661 found.

[LoZoccolo]

3. And U.S. corporations are taking advantage of the bass-ackwardness. n/t

[bloodyjack]

5. As well as the relative value of the rupee :(

[liberalpragmatist]

7. It doesn't have a 70% male population

I agree with the article but that fact is just factually incorrect. According to the CIA world factbook the sex ratio is 1.07 males to 1 female. Still skewed b/c of female infanticide in rural areas no doubt, but not 70% to 30% ratio.

In general you find that Asia is a very backward place when it comes to gay rights even in economically prosperous areas like South Korea. That'll change with time, but probably not fast enough for many. Which is really a shame.

Of course, that still makes Asia probably more progressive on gay issues than the Arab world.

[bloodyjack]

10. D'oh, my mistake

LITERACY

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 59.5%
male: 70.2%
female: 48.3% (2003 est.)

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html#People

OK, but still, less than half the female population is literate. No less a travesty.

[the_outsider]

9. according to the last census (2001), the sex ratio is 933

or 51.8% men which is very very high compared to the rest of the world but 70% is a bit of an exaggeration. :) The literacy rate in 2001 was 64.8%.

But your points are definitely valid. The most disturbing trends are emerging in the 0-10 age groups. In certain parts of India, the sex ratio is as low as 800/1000 (or about 45% women which is unheard of) in those age groups and it's getting worse with selective abortion and infanticide on the rise. This is a huge problem in China as well. Another interesting piece of information is that low sex ratio has no correlation with income and poverty. The richest states in India have the worst ratios. Nobel laureate Indian development economist Amartya Sen has done some important research on it.

http://www.censusindia.net/

http://www.flonnet.com/fl1822/18220040.htm