Being LGBTQ+ in Ancient India

Random Indian Uncle: "Beta, this gay & lesbian is against Indian culture!"

Actually ... no.

A lot of what you feel about same-sex relationships is because the British brainwashed us with Section 377 because its agenda was to indoctrinate us with European moral values.

But Hinduism has more or less been open to all forms of sexuality.

First, you can clearly see that the scriptures in temples across India like Khajuraho, Puri, Tanjore, Bhubaneswar, Ajanta Ellora and Konark, all show women or men making love to the same sex, which means that it was a known concept in those times.

Second, in the popular book Kamasutra, written by Vātsyāyana, Chapter 9 under section II openly talks about same-sex relationships, also elsewhere referring to LGBTQ+ individuals as Tritiya-Prakriti i.e people of the third kind who had equal moral status.

Third, you have the tale of Shikhandini from the Mahabharata, who was born female but decided to transform into a male after marrying a woman.

Fourth, even Ramayana has tales of King Bhagiratha, who was conceived by two widowed Queens, and there are also references to Lord Hanuman seeing lady rakshasas kissing each other while passing Lanka.

Fifth, even texts like Manusmriti & The Arthashastra, which did not endorse homosexuality, mostly mention very negligible fines, indicating it wasn't considered a huge crime.