The Fight Goes On for the LGBT Community of India

The Supreme Court of India (SC) dealt a hard blow to the LGBT community in the country by its judgment this Wednesday as it upheld Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), bringing an inglorious end to a two-decade struggle for equal rights for citizens with a different sexual orientation. What began in 1991 with the AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan filing a petition to repeal the IPC Section 377, gathered great momentum over the years to finally culminate in a victory of sorts in 2009 when the High Court of Delhi (HC) ruled in favour of the petitioners. On Wednesday, it was back to square one.

Framed during the colonial times, IPC Section 377 condemns all who have unnatural sex including consenting adults. A remnant of British India’s laws, it continues to remain in the system as a redundant organ with limited functionality. The 2009 Delhi High Court judgment intended relevant changes to the law keeping in view its relevance in the present times. The SC deemed the changes unfit in accordance with the law and tossed the HC order out of the window passing the buck to the legislature of the country. New laws will have to be framed to override/scrap/change the Section 377 - new laws that can take an infinite amount of time to be passed in a country marred with coalition politics.

While IPC Section 377 does not target the LGBT community directly, the provisions in it ensure that its members are stripped of the right to a life of their own. Because they commit a criminal offense punishable with life imprisonment every time they make love. It is like being persecuted for having a different color of your eyes than the general population. Or worse.

Many would still argue in favour of the IPC Section 377 and against everything that they do not deem as natural. According to popular belief, it is in nature to procreate and any act of sex that does not arrive at that conclusion is unnatural. However, recent studies have shown that homosexuality is prevalent in nature in a far more pervasive manner, especially in the animal kingdom. And don’t we all regard animals to live strictly on natural instinct?

It is true that the world had little or no acceptance of homosexuality in the recent past. Countries including the United States, which has strongly registered its protest against the SC verdict, fared no better in their social and legal system a couple of decades ago when it came to homosexuality. But since then, there have been many studies into the nature of human sexuality and perhaps, now, it is understood somewhat better than before. The verdict, therefore, brings to the fore a certain callousness as it upholds an archaic law that has little or no relevance in the current times.

The only good thing that may have come forth in the wake of the verdict is the way it has been received by and large. Prominent political figures provided statements to the press iterating their disappointment with the new order. The blogosphere erupted in support of the LGBT community and in condemnation of the judgment. The social media savvy put forth their points in support of the LGBT community in every which way possible. The butt of jokes in social circles and comic relief on the widescreen, homosexuals can finally hope to find support with many in the masses. Once considered largely homophobic, India seems to have come a long way.

The SC has not closed all doors for the LGBT community as it has granted the right to appeal. However, it is unclear why the SC, noted for its many landmark judgments, did not walk the extra mile to do away with the vulnerability that IPC section 377 imposes on the significant LGBT community of the country. The fight goes on for the LGBT community in India.