07 MARCH, 2023
On 23 February 2012, the Ministry of Home Affairs opposed the Delhi High Court's decriminalization
of homosexual activity, arguing that homosexuality is considered immoral in India. On February 28,
2012, the central government reversed its position, arguing that there is no legal error in
decriminalizing homosexual acts. On December 18, 2015, Shashi Tharoor, a member of the Indian
National Congress Party, introduced Section 377 decriminalization bill, but the House of
Representatives rejected him with 7,124 votes.
In 2016, the state of Kerala considered free sex reassignment surgery in state hospitals
after enacting its first policy on transgender people. This is a positive step by the state
government and we hope that all future actions regarding people belonging to the LGBT community will
move in a positive direction. But recently, in a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court on 25 February
2021, the central government side declared that marriage can only be contracted between a biological
man and a woman. This is a strong denial of the validity of same-sex marriage.
On 5 March 2021, the Supreme Court of India ruled that after hearing a Public Interest
(PIL) lawsuit challenging the Ministry of Health's policy that transgender and gay people are
prohibited from donating blood, the Centre and other interested parties issued a notice to His panel
of three judges, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, reviewed the petition filed by T.
Santa Singh and the Guidelines for Selection and Referral of Blood Donors by Questionnaire by Blood
Donors, 2017. Hearing the constitutional validity of Sections 12 and 51. Issued by the Ministry of
Health, Labour and Welfare. The rule outright banned blood donations for members of the LGBT
community and female sex workers because of their high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. So instead of
testing blood samples from blood donors, the guidelines arbitrarily exclude the LGBT community from
donating blood.
The above cases clearly demonstrate the changing stance of the central and state
governments on the rights of the LGBT community, and it is still undecided whether the government
will recognize the community as a whole.