*Press Release***
The Public Interest Litigation filed before the Delhi High Court seeking to decriminalise homosexuality is reaching a decisive stage. It is posted for final arguments on Monday, 19th May 2008. The PIL asks for Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) be read down to exclude consensual sexual acts in private between adults. Section 377 IPC criminalizes all sexual acts that are not procreative. For example oral sex, regardless of whether it is between heterosexuals or between homosexual men, is considered criminal. But effectively the law is used to stigmatise some people more than others. It targets all people who engage in same-sex relationships, whether they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), hijras and others. The law has been used by the police to intimidate such people and has enabled serious human rights violations. It has lead to arrest of HIV outreach workers working among men who have sex with men. Such programmes have been sanctioned by the government, yet the workers have been arrested under charges of abetting Section 377. It has been used to blackmail gay men, harass lesbian women and permit violence against hijras. Section 377 denies the fundamental rights to life, health, equality, freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in the constitution to a large section of Indian citizens. The PIL was originally filed by Naz Foundation (India) Trust in 2001, a NGO working on HIV/AIDS prevention in 2000. The Union of India (UoI) is the first respondent in this matter. The UoI through the Home Ministry has opposed the petition, arguing that the deletion of the legal provision would open 'floodgates of delinquent behaviour'. Yet another wing of the government, the National AIDS Control Organisation, is supporting the petition. Subsequently other interested parties have intervened in the petition and been included as respondents. Joint Action Council Kannur (JACK), a NGO that opposes all HIV/AIDS related actions, has also opposed this petition, bringing up many technical queries and even unsuccessfully alleging that the petitioner was receiving foreign funds, and slandering the counsel for the petitioners. Later former Member of Parliament Mr.BP Singhal, DGP (retd) filed an impleadment application in the matter opposing the petitioner's plea, which was accepted by the court. Voices Against 377, a coalition of sexuality rights, women's rights, children's rights, human rights, health and education organisations in New Delhi, has filed an impleadment application supporting the plea of the petitioner, which was accepted by the court. Voices' application included a number of affidavits by people directly affected by Section 377. In 2004 the Delhi High Court dismissed the petition on the basis that the petitioner (Naz India) had no locus standi, pointing to an absence of FIR in the case to show that the petitioner was not directly affected by Section 377. On appeal, in April 2006 the Supreme Court granted relief to the petitioner and remanded the petition back to the Delhi High Court, noting that the matter should be heard on merits, and expeditiously. The PIL then faced a number of technical challenges, slowing the case considerably, so the matter was not listed in the High Court after 17 July 2007. In 13 February 2008 Naz India moved an early hearing application urging the court to list the matter at the earliest. After more delays from other respondents, the court declared that it will hear the matter expeditiously, starting from Monday 19th May. These arguments will now be held against a backdrop of great global change with respect to the rights of those in same-sex relationships. In the USA the California Supreme Court has just given gays and lesbians the right to marry. This right is already available, in different forms, through much of Europe, and our developing world allies like South Africa. Next door Nepal an openly gay man has been appointed to the country's new Constituent Assembly to represent the rights of sexual minorities. It is time for India to join these nations in decriminalising and respecting the rights of those in same sex relationships. A vast section of Indians will be watching the proceedings with the hope and expectation that the Delhi High Court will offer them this relief from a draconian and outdated law. *Issued by the Queer Media Collective. The Queer Media Collective (QMC) is a group of professional journalists who aim for a more balanced treatment of gay, lesbian and other queer issues in the Indian media and entertainment industries. For more information, contact Lesley A. 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