How are gays perceived in India? Are they harassed like in the U.S. or are they more or less ignored.?

Answer 1

As a law anal sex is not allowed even with wife in india.
Gays (Hijras) are respectd more than woman or lower cast people.
Indians are very cool, even straight guys do not mind having sex with other men and Gay talk is very very common.
Gay marriage is never allowed, but no one cares much about laws.

Answer 2

My visit to India and spent almost three weeks at various places told me that Indian harrased women more than gays. In India, the gay community like 'hijra' is so well respected. And in elite community of the rich and famous, gay lifestyle is widely accepted.

But again, you will be easily deceived. On the street, you can see guys holding hands, cuddling each other or even kissing, but they are not gay. It is just a way to express love and strong bonding of family (or extended family) ties. Some guys even share a same bed.

You can even sleep with a guy or have sex with him even though he is not gay. You know, they are just obliging and showing hospitality.(of course had to be accompanied with some tips).

A very nice place to visit.

Answer 3

Worse than in the U.S. under technical standards. It's a very taboo thing and still considered criminal to do homosexual acts (though no one's really been thrown into jail because of it for a while now, it is still residing within their laws either way). There's minor talk of stopping it from being a criminal act, but no one party is springing forth in support to stop it; everyone's pretty "hush-hush, if we pretend it's hardly here perhaps they'll fly away to America and we won't have to deal with it".

There are clubs, but only in the well-populated regions and not within the smaller cities.

All in all, it's ignored because of its taboo and illegal standing. Many people just don't want to talk about it. They'll accept that it's there, but it's not something people want the news to discuss.