Meeting of souls and not that of bodies is the Indian definition of marriages. Well then what about marriage between same sexes? is it a taboo? Is it justified ? More importantly is it legal?
According to Section 377 of the IPC, framed in 1860, ‘‘Whosoever has carnal intercourse voluntarily against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall be liable to fine.’’
The Delhi High Court Decision on 2 July 2009, in the case of Naz Foundation v National Capital Territory of Delhi, struck down much of S. 377 of the IPC as being unconstitutional. The Court held that S. 377 violated the fundamental rights of an individual enshrined in Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Indian constitution. However it did not strike down S. 377 completely – it held the section was valid to the extent it related to non-consensual non-vaginal intercourse or to intercourse with minors.
The decision is binding only in the territory of Delhi and has persuasive value elsewhere. Therefore a proper legislation is required in this regard.
The legislation may take some time and until that is done the gays would be subject to cruelties and torture. There have been many cases in this regard may lesbians were raped after their non- consensual marriages. In 2001 gays were forced into medication to cure them. The treatment included aversion therapy and shock treatment. The case was not rejected by the NHRC under section 377.
Many people say that the gays are as normal as you and me. But are they? Have they the same rights as I and You have? They are not treated equally when the constitution says that there should be equality before law and there should be no discrimination on basis of sex, creed, race etc. The homosexuals are belittled by almost every section of the society. They are subject to both legal and social discrimination. Manvanvendra Singh Gohil the first royal to declare himself a gay and Zoltan Parag faced many troubles after declaring their sexual orientation.
It is worth noting that a recent report suggests that legalizing homosexuality has reduced HIV and AIDS cases. Even Ramadoss said ignoring this community will weaken India’s fight against HIV. “At present, any doctor treating a gay for HIV can be jailed. In one instance, a social worker languished in jail for nine months for trying to treat a gay HIV infected person,” he said
Rules are framed to suit needs of people and these laws should evolve with time. Manusmiriti declared homosexual behaviour as an offence but the case was similar for other practices which are no longer illegal. Sati, dowry or child marriage were apt historically but later the practices were abrogated. Similar is the case with laws relating to homosexuality. With the growing population of LGBT in India and South Asia there is a need for change in section 377.
