My stand as a social media writer of acceptance of same-sex marriage persons in countries where its legal, as normal people; Social media friends who are very offended may please unfriend/unfollow me

Last updated on 5th June 2019

Recently the grandson of Singapore's founder Lee Kuan Yew, Li Huanwu got married to his gay partner, https://www.nst.com.my/world/2019/05/491408/singapore-founding-father-lee-kuan-yews-gay-grandson-ties-knot-south-africa in South Africa. Note that homosexual sex is illegal in Singapore as per this report.

Also note that Malaysia which is the close neighbour to Singapore, seems to have a similar law at least for its Muslim Malay citizens, making gay sexual relations illegal. Famously, Malaysia had jailed its former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim with the charge (and conviction) of sodomy (gay sex), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Ibrahim_sodomy_trials.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Ibrahim_sodomy_trials#Royal_pardon, Anwar Ibrahim suffered a miscarriage of justice (which I understand to mean that he was NOT guilty of the sodomy charges) and was given a full royal pardon on 16 May 2018, by Malaysia's king, Sultan Muhammad V.

Now I have personally come to terms with gay sexual choice in some parts of the world where it is legal. Apple's boss, Tim Cook, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cook, is gay.

A top Hindu academic scholar, Prof. Diana Eck, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_L._Eck, of Harvard University, USA, is openly lesbian. It took me a while to handle Prof. Eck being gay (lesbian) as she has written **awesome** books on Hinduism. But I got around to accepting it eventually as her personal sexual choice, and keeping that distinct from her academic scholarship on Hinduism and comparative religion. I continue to have ***great respect*** for Prof. Diana Eck for her academic scholarship on Hinduism (I have not read much of her comparative religion scholarship work).

As a social media writer on spirituality & religion, I am not comfortable in promoting gay/same-sex marriage, as I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman (I am sorry if that offends some readers but I felt it important to state my view on this clearly). But neither am I willing to be critical of gay marriage in countries where gay (same-sex) marriage is legal, like in USA (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States).

I respect the gay marriage choice of same-sex married couples in countries where that is legal. And so I respect the gay marriage choice of Li Huanwu, the grandson of Lee Kuan Yew, founder of Singapore. In particular, I do not consider him to have any mental disorder nor do I consider him to be weird, just like I do not consider Prof. Diana Eck or Mr. Tim Cook as having any mental disorder or being weird.

In fact, I was very happy to see the Ambani family accompany Tim Cook to the famous Siddhi Vinayak temple in Mumbai for darshan of Siddhi Vinayak in May 2016 (Tim Cook visits Ganesha temple, https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/tim-cook-visits-ganesha-temple/238584.html).

But I get the impression that some social media friend(s) of mine are rather intolerant (to put it mildly) of gay/lesbian sex/marriage anywhere in the world. They may have a lot of discomfort with my stand.

So I felt it appropriate to put up this post. I request those social media friends/followers of mine who are very uncomfortable with my acceptance of gay/lesbian people in countries where that's legal, as normal people (and NOT as weirdos or people with some mental defects) to please unfriend/unfollow me. Note that my social media friends are free to disagree with my view - we can continue to be friends who politely disagree on this. But those who are very uncomfortable (I think those who are very intolerant of gay/lesbian people, may think my views are all garbage) with my stand should unfriend/unfollow me. I think that will be best for such social media friends/followers of mine, and for me. Thanks.
==================================================================

Given below are some comment(s) from my Facebook post,  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2504756589740903, associated with this post:

In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):

Thank you for your polite disagreement and for continuing to be my friend. I have noted your view. I just don't know enough to form a view whether same-sex relationship is natural or unnatural (I believe there are conflicting views on this). But, of course, for most of history of human society, same-sex behaviour was not encouraged. Further, it is heterosexual relationship (man & woman) that has sustained human society over centuries and millennia. So I am fully supportive of heterosexual relationship as I think that is vital for healthy society. And I do ***not*** promote gay/lesbian sexual relationships but I am tolerant towards it being practiced by others when it is permitted under law. I am ***not*** a homophobe, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/homophobe.

I am glad to know that you emphasize that rights as citizens of gays/lesbians should be protected. ... Note that these rights vary from country to country. ... I think such acceptance of (legal) rights of gay/lesbian citizens is a healthy attitude and a law-abiding attitude.
-----

In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
Thanks for your interesting view, --name-snipped--. I agree with large parts of it.

About the laws part: This topic is a super-sensitive topic, especially in conservative societies/communities. I give a lot of value to "Sangha Neethi" (morally/ethically acceptable behaviour in a community) in such sensitive matters. And "Sangha Neethi" in democratic countries, and also in some non-democratic countries, is usually reflected in such sensitive areas through laws enacted by elected representatives which are vetted by the judiciary. So I give a lot of value to laws in this sensitive matter as I consider them to be reflective of the Sangha Neethi of the state and/or country, or at least the majoritarian view of the state/country.

Another reason I stress on the law aspect for this super-sensitive topic, is that in some countries gay sex may be punished by death as per their laws though they may not implement that death penalty in all such cases (or may implement it very, very rarely)!!! I mean, this is really, really serious stuff for people living in some countries. I repeat, the penalty can be death as per law and not limited to just some prison term. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penalty_for_homosexuality for more info.

In such serious matters, I prefer to go the extra mile in my stand so as to stay within the law of the land that applies to various individuals.
-----

In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
I am not in a position nor am I interested to be an activist for gay rights in such countries or even in any other country. So I am not saying anything about what should be done for gays in countries where they are persecuted either only on paper or in reality.

I am limiting my stand to apply to gays in countries where their rights are legally protected to some extent or to the full extent.

My silence about gays in countries where gay sex is illegal does not mean that I expect them to follow the law of the land.

If others like you would like to be an activist, say via social media writings, for gay rights in such countries, I certainly will not object. I will simply be neutral and not get involved in such activism. However, I think it is appropriate for me to add a word of caution that getting involved in activism for gay rights in countries where it is illegal, may invite unwanted attention from those in power in those countries and right-wing religious groups in those countries.
----