Delhi High Court: Homosexuality is Not a Disease

The court battle in India over the repeal of Section 377 which criminalizes gay sex has been interesting to follow since the Court continues to rebuff the government's attempts and arguments to retain the penal code provision based on religious and non-legal justifications. Since the Court role is to adjudicate civil legal matters - not religious doctrine or beliefs - the Court is doing its job. Would that the government would do its job and cease acting as a de facto representative for religious factions. Here are some highlights from the Times of India:

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NEW DELHI: Irritated by the government's contradictory and unscientific stand on the issue of homosexuality, the Delhi High Court on Monday told the government that the homosexual trait in a human being cannot be termed as a "disease" and objected to the contention that if legalised, homosexuality would bring "devastation" to society. "Show us one report which says that it is a disease. A WHO [World Health Organization] paper says that it is not a disease but you are describing it as a disease."

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The Court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by gay rights activists seeking decriminalisation of gay sex among consenting adults which, at present, is an offence. Section 377 of Indian Penal Code provides a punishment upto life imprisonment for indulging in gay sex. Continuing with its opposition the government described homosexuality as "a most indecent behaviour" in society, pointing out that homosexuals comprise just 0.3% of the population and the interest of rest 99.7% population "cannot be compromised" just to accommodate their rights.

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The Court, however, instructed him to "stick" to legal issues involved in the case and not raise political ones. Earlier, gay rights activists had contended that the government, by not decriminalising homosexuality, was infringing upon their fundamental right to equality on grounds of morality.