September 22,2018:
The Author, Pankaj Sinha, is an Advocate with proficiency among eminent Advocates in Mumbai with over 20 years of experience in different financial institutions of India, is a premier thinker and professional in the field of Law. He demonstrates his excellence in Wealth Management for stock market, a Legal and Compliance innovator and an adviser for marital issues.
Introduction
It was in 1999 when Kolkata took the brave initiative to organize the first pride parade ever in India that celebrated the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community’s culture and pride. India in fact has witnessed profusion in pride marches & events, outrages, protests and uproars aimed towards eliminating the primordial issues faced by the people of this community.
Be it violence, unemployment, discrimination, poverty, lack of healthcare, bullying, physical violence or denial of education, the LGBTQs have undergone adverse times of tribulations beyond one’s comprehension.
But the partial decriminalisation of the century-old Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalizes consensual sexual activities between the homosexual individuals, is ostensibly a milestone in the lives of LGBTQ community and also every single human in support of these people.
Heaving a great sigh of relief after the hardships they have been through, many people from the LGBTQ community rejoiced this momentous decision declared by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India and also beheld the power of love over everything. The SC constitution bench was headed by five pre-eminent judges – Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud, and Indu Malhotra.
The Battle to Win Over Other Rights
“Regardless of this mammoth victory, there are a plethora of legislative reforms and legal aspects entangling the LGBTQ people in India that ought to be addressed for them to have complete command over their other rights,” elucidates Pankaj Sinha, Advocate & Founder, Right Direction. He illustrates, “Marrying a person of their choice, adopting children, surrogacy and inheriting property from the partner coupled with the rights on the other arm of law like right to divorce, entitlement to alimony, allowing one to levy a charge on his/her partner and acquiring the custodial right of children are some of the current controversial aspects demanding answers”.
In fact, the recent appalling suicide of two young women who were in love and couldn’t live together along with the three-year old daughter of one of them at Gujarat has shook the nation and triggered the Indian Government to swiftly resolve the deep-rooted outcries and agonies of the LGBTQ people.
The catalogue of suicides, mishaps, harassments, molestations, acts of condescension and many other shocking events across the LGBTQ community is becoming endless with passing time in India. Indeed, the abolishing of Section 377 has bestowed the LGBTQs only with the right to live together with the person they love and voluntarily have carnal intercourse while the battle to win over the legalization of the aforementioned rights is still going on.
According to the Indian SC, the first step towards creating a liberal and tolerant society has been laid on September 6, 2018 by partially scrapping the British’s legacy. It is trusted that the stigma and shame associated with expressing the sexual identity among these people will be scrapped off too while allowing them to break free from their cocoons and set feet into a new world of dignity and respect.
In addition to the above imperative issues, the impact of homophobia and racism on the LGBTQ community, dearth in their religious freedom, gender discrimination even at public bathrooms and locker rooms, inclusion of third-gender literature and studies along with insights on the spread of HIV, STDs and gender transformations, required to be straightened out. Civil rights against discrimination in professional institutions and organizations entailing uniformed services, politics, media, teaching and other domains are also obstructing the LGBTQ people from living their dreams.
The Probable Solutions
Way beyond the concept of decriminalising homosexuality, each citizen of India needs to comprehend that homosexuals and people identifying themselves as outside the conventional genders are in fact humans like us deserving equal rights.
Also, people must develop a better understanding of equality beyond gender stereotypes, respect the personal choices of their fellow humans without intervening and quash the attitude of judging each other based on prejudiced opinions.
People stuck between the walls of LGBTQ community must be integrated into disparate Indian societies along with other people without the slightest impact of gender or sexuality.
Besides reconstructing the traditional definitions of marriage and parenting for the LGBTQ community, schools, educational institutions and workplaces also require redevelopment to incorporate these people along with the others on equal terms.
The verdict on Section 377 has certainly triggered the dawn of a new era suffused with liberalism and tolerance. But only if the Indian judiciary combats the ubiquitous legal and civil challenges hovering over the LGBTQ community in India, true and complete freedom of individuals can be achieved.
Above all, we, the citizens of India genuinely and whole-heartedly must believe that no person is ‘different’ and love everyone equally, freely and fearlessly without any room for gender inequality.
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