dailyO
Politics

Law minister's U-turn on Section 377 reeks of bigotry

Advertisement
Vikram Johri
Vikram JohriJul 01, 2015 | 09:46

Law minister's U-turn on Section 377 reeks of bigotry

Law minister Sadananda Gowda went to great lengths to disabuse us of any notions we might have got from the Economic Times interview that appeared on Tuesday. He was on several channels explaining his position, clarifying that no, he had never said that the government might look into scrapping Section 377. He reiterated, again and again lest you had not caught on, that the ET reporter had misquoted him, that she had even called him to apologise, that the story had been dropped from the website, and so on and on ad nauseum.

Advertisement

I doubt Gowda's claim is the entire truth because the ET interview looks pretty straightforward. When the reporter asks him for his views on the recent SCOTUS ruling in the US, which made nationwide gay marriage a reality, Gowda is not only willing to address the LGBT concerns back home but goes so far as to claim that even gay marriage might be considered. When I picked up the paper in the morning, I did think he had gone too far since I did not foresee the BJP changing its stance on the issue so dramatically. But one can hope and I was happy to read Gowda make those pledges.

If only! By afternoon Gowda had retracted the statement, or rather completely disowned it under the pretext that he had never made it in the first place. Had the pressure come from the RSS top brass? In all likelihood, yes, but it came to Subramanian Swamy, that purveyor of reasonability, to tweet: "Issue is not respect. We respect handicapped persons. Homos are genetically handicapped."

Look at the bile dripping from that statement. "Homos" are not even worthy of respect, since we are worse than the handicapped. Laws? Get out of here. Marriage? You must be high.

Advertisement

I can't help feeling angry at Gowda for giving the ET interview in the first place. How could he have not known that whatever he said, pro- or anti-gay, the issue would be used by the loonies in his party and the broader right to spew venom on homosexuals? We don't need this, minister. Even the most optimistic among us know that our generation at least will die in a country that will accord us no respect or legal status. The knowledge that the better-off among us have the option to emigrate while the rest of us must lead lives of either silence or invisibility has been hard-wired into us. We don't need you and the likes of you to make it worse with your hateful, prejudiced statements.

For it's a glorious tradition with your party, isn't it? Rajnath Singh thinks we are abnormal. Ram Madhav generously thinks we should not be considered criminals, never mind our abnormality. We hear whispers about Arun Jaitley being on our side, but the earth will open before the party allows him to express his views. As for the prime minister, ha! His "Mann ki Baat" is an exercise in rank double standards. Push #SelfieWithDaughter but care two hoots about the gays. Listen to your own, PM, if no one else. We are genetically handicapped, right. The abnormality is not our doing. We were born into it, yes? Not very different from the intellectual underpinnings of your love for the girl child. Throw some kindness our way too.

Advertisement

It would have been easy if the other parties supported us, but the fact is we are not a vote bank. The Congress top brass made some encouraging noises after the Supreme Court sent us back to the dark ages in 2013. Arvind Kejriwal has also expressed support when questioned on the issue. But neither party has taken up the fight in earnest. The Congress did nothing to change the status of Section 377 via the legislative route as the Supreme Court had advised (wrongly, in my view. Justice Kennedy, in the SCOTUS judgement, says: "An individual can invoke a right to constitutional protection when he or she is harmed, even if the broader public disagrees and even if the legislature refuses to act."). As for the AAP, we know they their heart beats for the marginalised, but perhaps we haven't made that list yet.

I know I sound enraged which is not really my thing. I could not care less for what the eminences can and cannot do for me legally. My homosexuality is too sturdy, too condescending to even consider the external noise. Yet, I cannot help feel sorry for the tireless campaigners for equality, men and women who have spent years fighting so that their essential humanity may be recognised, so that they may be allowed to live and love as they please. It pisses me no end when the sexually privileged open their unwashed mouth.

In the days before the SCOTUS ruling, several Americans urged the justices deciding the case to be "on the right side of history". India will catch up too in good time, never mind that it stands with some of the world's most repressive regimes as of today. We will see a world where the Indian LGBT community has the same rights and opportunities as the heterosexuals. Until then, as Arundhati Roy said in another context, I secede.

Last updated: July 01, 2015 | 17:14
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy