Hinduism accepts Eunuchs,Transvestite, Homosexuality,Lesbianism.Bisexuality as Natural.
Ardhanareswara, Lord Krishna marrying Irvana,Arjuna becoming Bruhannala,Mandhafha being born of a Man,Chanda -Chamundi ,Bhagavathi,
Yellamma, the Birth of Lord Ayyapa.Lord Muruga are indicative of what is now termed as Normal Sexual Behavior.
In most cases it is explained that one takes the Form of he other sex,like Bruhannala, or Lord Krishna becomes a woman .
All said and done there is evidence that Hinduism did not treat this a s Deviant Behavior, it was not condescending towards them nor were they extended special privileges.
These were not ostracized by the society,nor were they looked upon condescendingly.
Rigveda says regarding Samsara that Vikruti Evam Prakriti (perversity/diversity is what nature is all about, or, what seems un-natural is also natural), which some scholars believe recognizes the cyclical constancy of homosexual/transsexual dimensions of human life, like all forms of universal diversities.[38] People of a third gender (tritiya-prakriti), not fully men nor women, are mentioned here and there throughout Hindu texts such as the Puranas but are not specifically defined. In general they are portrayed as effeminate men, often cowardly, and with no desire for women. Modern readers often draw parallels between these and modern stereotypes of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sexual identities.
However some Smritis censure them,like Manu, though ot severely.
They took part in all Vedic activities , they were not prohibited from Religious or Spiritual activity.
However the Vishnu Puran says hat the Eunuchs should not be present when one is performing Sradha.
So, Hinduism does not treat LGBT as Deviants, not dos it treat them with special privileges.
When looking at Human Nature and Facts Hinduism never flinches, ducks the issue or offer some farfetched justification.
For Hinduism things are They Are
Such is the greatness of Hinduism it accepts Nature as it is without delivering Value judgements on what is essentially a natural Phenomenon.
On Gays:
The Sangam literature on the Friendship between Pari and Kabilar says it is more than a friendship, clearly indication Homosexuality.
““For instance, the friendship between King Pari and poet Kabilar is shown as something more than just friendship. There are lyrical undertones suggestive of the intimate relationship they had. But since there are no explicit representation, one can only postulate a possibility.[65]”
Although Hindu society does not formally acknowledge sexuality between men, it formally acknowledges and gives space to sexuality between men and third genders as a variation of male-female sex (i.e., a part of heterosexuality, rather than homosexuality, if analysed in Western terms). In fact, Hijras, Alis, Kotis, etc.— the various forms of third gender that exist in India today— are all characterized by the gender role of having receptive anal and oral sex with men. Sexuality between men (as distinct from third genders) has nevertheless thrived, mostly unspoken, informally, within men’s spaces, without being seen as ‘different’ in the way its seen in the West.[4] As in other non-Western cultures, it is considered more or less a universal aspect of manhood, even if not socially desirable. It is the effeminate male sexuality for men (or for women) which is seen as ‘different,’ and differently categorised. Men often refer to their sexual play with each other as ‘masti.’[5]”
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Mathematician Shakuntala Devi, in her 1977 book, The World of Homosexuals, interviewed Srinivasa Raghavachariar, head priest of the Srirangam temple. He said that same-sex lovers must have been cross-sex lovers in a former life. The sex may change but the soul retains its attachments, hence the love impels these souls towards one another. In 2002, I interviewed a Shaiva priest who performed the marriage of two women; he told me that, having studied Hindu scriptures, he had concluded, “Marriage is a union of spirits, and the spirit is not male or female.”
As Amara Dasa, a Krishna devotee and founder of Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association (GALVA), notes in his recent book, Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex, several Gaudiya Vaishnava authorities emphasize that since everyone passes through various forms, genders and species in a series of lives, we should not judge each other by the material body but view everyone equally on a spiritual plane, and be compassionate as God is.
Gay activist Ashok Row Kavi recounts that when he was studying at the Ramakrishna Mission, a monk told him the Mission was not a place to run away from himself, and that he should live boldly, ignoring social prejudice. Row Kavi went on to found the Indian gay magazine Bombay Dost. In 2004, Hindu right-wing leader K. Sudarshan denounced homosexuality. Row Kavi, identifying himself as “a faithful Hindu,” wrote an open letter to Sudarshan in the press. He asked Sudarshan to read ancient Hindu texts, and noted that modern homophobia is a Western import”.
Ancient Hindu law books, from the first century onwards, categorize ayoni (non-vaginal sex) as impure. But penances prescribed for same-sex acts are very light compared to penances for some types of heterosexual misconduct, such as adultery and rape. The Manusmriti exhorts a man who has sex with a man or a woman in a cart pulled by a cow, or in water or by day to bathe with his clothes on (11.174). The Arthashastra imposes a minor fine on a man who has ayoni sex (4.13.236). Modern commentators misread the Manusmriti’s severe punishment of a woman’s manual penetration of a virgin (8.369-70) as anti-lesbian bias. In fact, the punishment is exactly the same for either a man (8.367) or a woman who does this act, and is related not to the partners’ genders but to the virgin’s loss of virginity and marriageable status. The Manusmriti does not mention a woman penetrating a non-virgin woman, and the Arthashastra prescribes a negligible fine for this act. The sacred epics and the Puranas (fourth to fourteenth-century compendia of devotional stories) contradict the law books; they depict Gods, sages, and heroes springing from ayoni sex. Unlike sodomy, ayoni sex never became a major topic of debate or an unspeakable crime. There is no evidence of anyone in India ever having been executed for same-sex relations.”
Lesbianism.
There are other ancient Hindu/Sanskrit texts that refer to homosexuality. The Sushruta Samhita, for example, a highly respected Hindu medical text dating back to at least 600 B.C., mentions two different types of homosexual men (kumbhika – men who take the passive role in anal sex; and asekya – men who devour the semen of other men) as well as transgenders (sandha – men with the qualities, behavior and speech of women). It also states that men who behave like women, or women who behave like men, are determined as such at the time of their conception in the womb. (SS 3.2.42–43)[54] The Sushruta Samhita also mentions the possibility of two women uniting and becoming pregnant as a result of the mingling of their sexual fluids. It states that the child born of such a union will be “boneless.” Such a birth is indeed described in the Krittivasa Ramayana of Bengal ”
The Kama Sutra also refers to svairini, who are “independent women who frequent their own kind or others” (2.8.26) — or, in another passage: “the liberated woman, or svairini, is one who refuses a husband and has relations in her own home or in other houses” (6.6.50). In a famous commentary on the Kama Sutra from the 12th century, Jayamangala, explains: “A woman known for her independence, with no sexual bars, and acting as she wishes, is called svairini. She makes love with her own kind. She strokes her partner at the point of union, which she kisses.” (Jayamangala on Kama Sutra 2.8.13). The various practices of lesbians are described in detail within the Second Part, Eighth Chapter of the Kama Sutra”
Citations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_topics_and_Hinduism#Religious_art
http://www.galva108.org/hinduism.html
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