The Supreme Court commenced the hearing for the petitions seeking to end the Section 377 which criminalizes Homosexual sex in India. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra. Yesterday, the Government filed the affidavit that it won’t interfere in the decision of the supreme court, as it concerns consensual acts of sex between two adults. Justice Indu Malhotra observed that the LGBTQ community feels restricted to go for medical aid because there is severe prejudice against them. She also added that family and societal pressure forces the people from LGBTQ background to marry a heterosexual partner, and become bisexual.
Homosexuality isn’t just human nature, she explained, and its also performed by Animals. So its not an aberration that needs to condemned by the society, but a variation in the broad spectrum of sexuality. Homosexuals have been stigmatized by the society since the Victorian era, when the section was added to the constitution of India, and hasn’t changed as the world around us has evolved and people have found acceptance about their sexuality with their families and themselves.
CU Singh said that the community has suffered criminalization since 160 years, and it is going to be a huge to strike the section down, and ask the justice to refer to instances of the discrimination against them to stop it.
The Supreme court had, in 2013, overturned The High Court’s decision to abolish the Section 377, but has now reconsidered and is gearing petitions from several representatives of the LGBTQ community. There has also been push back again this decision, with prominent politician, Subramanian Swamy, saying that being gay is against Hindutva and needs a cure. However, it would be good for him to refer to psychologists, who have said that Homosexuality is not a disease of any kind.
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