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    22 Heartbreaking Confessions About Coming Out As Gay, Lesbian, Or Bisexual In India

    Or, more often, staying in the closet out out of fear. Via secret sharing app Whisper.

    Despite burgeoning Indian LGBT communities and movements (in urban areas), homosexuality and homosexual intercourse remain illegal in India (under the controversial section 377 of the Indian Penal Code). Being gay in India still entails being a target for mental, verbal, physical and sexual violence, and coming out still means risking alienation from one's conservative family and friends. As a result, anonymous online spaces are the only forum some have to "come out." Here are a few poignant and telling examples, courtesy of Whisper:

    1. From Sahibganj:

    2. From Mumbai:

    3. From Margao:

    4. From Khandwa:

    5. From Khandwa:

    6. From Siliguri:

    7. From Kurseong:

    8. From Chennai:

    9. From Mumbai:

    10. Specific location unknown:

    11. From New Delhi:

    12. From Jaipur:

    13. From Durgapur:

    14. From Lucknow:

    15. From Mumbai:

    16. From Mumbai:

    17. From New Delhi:

    18. From Chennai:

    19. From Tirunelveli:

    20. From Jaipur:

    21. From Panchkula:

    22. And a glimmer of hope from Kolkata: