Fewer than half of India’s urban millennials find homosexuality acceptable

Less than half of India’s urban millennials (aged between 18 and 38) find same-sex relationships acceptable, a survey has found.

It shows that homosexuality remains a taboo in Indian society months after the country decriminalized gay sex.

A YouGov-Mint Millennial Survey found about 50% of millennials in Delhi and Mumbai found homosexuality acceptable.

But, in the smaller cities of Hyderabad and Chennai, about 30% and 40% of millennials in the two respective cities found homosexuality completely unacceptable.

Thoughts on homosexuality in Indian cities (Photo: YouGov / Mint)

The survey also found that those who found same-sex relationships ‘completely acceptable’ were less likely to be religious.

Finally, more millennial women (32%) than men (23%) found homosexuality completely acceptable.

Section 377

India’s Supreme Court on 6 September ruled to alter colonial-era, Section 377 of the Penal Code.

The 1861 law criminalized ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’.

The law applied to anal and oral sex. It therefore effectively criminalized homosexuality, with those convicted under the law facing up to 10 years in jail.

But,  LGBTI rights activists in India have warned that decriminalization is just the beginning of equal rights. It will take a long time for society to change, they warn.

In October last year, two courts demonstrated the justice system was working to uphold the ruling.

A lesbian couple in India rushed to the capital, Delhi, to seek protection from their families who disapprove of the relationship. Delhi High Court granted them police protection.

The same month, the High Court of Kerala in south India ruled that a lesbian couple should live together.

In January this year, Delhi High Court again ruled in favor of two women who wanted to live together.