Please don't promote and advertise homosexuality. There are already enough of these ideas permeating our culture."It was just one angry comment on one Indian LGBTQ Facebook page, but it neatly encapsulated the intolerance and fear felt by countless people when LGBTQ parties began to emerge in Mumbai.This intolerance came to a head at the end of 2016, when several LGBTQ couples were refused entry into multiple high-end bars and clubs offering New Year's Eve parties. As same-sex couples tried to enter the premises, they were barred by door staff, who stated openly that only heterosexual couples were permitted to attend. When Indian news site DNA later called up the reservations desk at Shiro, one such establishment, a staffer explained that "We have orders from the management to only allow husband and wife-type couples. We have to go by what we're told."
Being gay isn't technically a crime in India, but it is illegal to engage in "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," according to Section 377, a controversial part of India's penal code that specifically lists anal and oral sex. This colonial-era law was reinstated by India's top court in 2013, and threatens up to ten years in jail for those who breach it. Unsurprisingly, it was poorly received by India's LGBTQ community, as well as large numbers of the country's young heterosexual people.Continue reading on Broadly.