India Gay Laws Challenged Again

International News, By Christian Taylor, 30th June, 2009

Over the weekend India held its second gay pride march, just as the country’s government is proposing to hold talks to discuss the repeal of their anti-gay laws which date back to 1860.

Under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code anyone who “voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” can be fined or imprisoned for up to ten years. This applies to acts like mutual masturbation, fellatio and anal sex, whether it is heterosexual or homosexual.

While the law is technically neutral, it has been used extensively to stigmatise and criminalise gay, lesbian and transgender people. Activists say that people are arrested under the code, and some are blackmailed for large sums of money by criminal gangs, who threaten to out them to their family and friends.

The law was challenged in the High Court in Delhi last year.

The Health Ministry is arguing that repealing the law would help to stop the spread of HIV, which affects some 2.5 million people in India, because it would make some people more willing to seek treatment.

According to the Statesman, the ruling Congress party is non-committal over the issue.

“The Congress does not have any view on this matter, there has been no discussion in the party on the issue,” said the party spokesman, Mr Shakeel Ahmed.

The talks will aim to find an agreement between the Union home, health and law ministries on whether the clause should be repealed.

Law minister Mr Veerappa Moily said this week that a final decision on the issue would only be taken after getting feedback from all sections of society, including ‘religious groups’.

“The Cabinet has mandated to have a re-look at the provision. But we are not going to rush to any conclusion. We will certainly take into account concerns of all sections, including religious groups like Christian church,” Mr Moily said.

Unsurprisingly the religious leaders are not in favour of changing the law. CNN reports that Babu Joseph, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India said, “We are against calling homosexuality a criminal activity, but we are certainly in principle against legalizing it, because that would mean the state endorsing same-sex relationships.”

Kamal Faruqui of India’s Muslim Personal Law Board stuck with what he believes is Islam’s view. “Islam is totally against it. Islam does not allow any unnatural act. No Muslim in the world, let alone India, can ever support it.”

The story was the same with India’s top Sikh administration.

“Homosexuality is unnatural,” said Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, general secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. “We oppose any proposal to give legitimacy to such acts.”