Cannot wish away LGBT community

The Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad's remark that 'homosexuality is a disease' and 'MSM are unnatural' have started a new debate on the line that is a law decriminalising section 377 of the Indian Penal Code enough?

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) groups are now feeling the need to give life to the law outside its textual status. Gautam Bhan, a gay rights activist says, “change in the law gives you rights, it does not change the situation on the ground. Both will have to take place simultaneously”.

Pramada Menon, a queer feminist activist, argues, “yes the law has changed but what Ghulam Nabi Azad said shows that the law has not changed in his head and similarly in the heads of many other people”.

On the occasion of international day against homophobia, July 7, a book, Law Like Love: Queer perspectives on Law, was released in Delhi and on this occasion activists spoke about the condition of sexual minorities in India two years after the Delhi Court Ruling.

While all agreed that enthusiasm has not faded in the last couple of years, there is much more to be done. Sumit Baudh, a lawyer activist feels, “the condition of sexual minorities in India has never been better but there is a long way to go”.

Saleem Kidewai, an independent scholar and co-editor of Same Sex Love in India: a Literary History, points out, “Lets not fool ourselves, law must have changed but in our minds there is lot that needs to be done”.

The challenges ahead are not just to get the section 377 judgment through the Supreme Court but also to work towards an anti-discrimination legalization, which is much inclusive and protective. There is a need to have a framework to fight against discrimination based on gender identities and sexual orientation. The main thing is the whole issue of identities. We have multiplicity of identities but we do not have space for these differences. There are huge challenges which go beyond the judgment and we need to address them,” Menon explains.

Delhi High Court judgment, which came on July 2, 2009, held that section 377 violated the fundamental right of life and liberty and the right to equality as guaranteed in the Constitution. The hearing in this case will be held on July 11, 2011. Whatever the result of the hearing, one fact cannot be ignored and Menon states, “change is inevitable and you cannot wish us away”.