Do we belong to the age of dinosaurs? If not, then what was
the Supreme Court thinking when it recriminalized IPC 377? Even when the Delhi
High Court had read down Section 377, homosexuals were still looked down upon
by many. They had to face constant embarrassment but at least there wasn’t this
criminal aspect to this.
India has a population of about 1.2 billion. So, even if 5% of the total populations are homosexuals – that would account for a lot of people. And, these people have a right to have dignity and to have privacy. The Supreme Court can’t decide how a person must feel towards another person – a woman can have sexual feeling for a female friend of her or say, a man can have sexual feeling for a male friend of his. There is NOTHING wrong in it. It is neither against nature nor against Indian culture. There are plenty examples of homosexual depictions in the temples of Khajuraho. Now what should we do them? Destroy them? The law simply follows Victorian mores. What is even more funny is the fact that while the Brits have themselves rejected such laws, we still continue with them.
Through this dogmatic and regressive verdict of the Supreme
Court, India has re-joined 76 other nations in legalized repression of lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people. Which century are we living in, 21st?!
