Government Position On LGBTQIA

07 MARCH, 2023

Government Position On LGBTQIA



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.