11 July,2011 06:26 AM IST | | Alifiya Khan
1,500 people from across the globe ask PM's office to clarify Health Minister's statement, views on gay sex
Even as the highest court in the country is scheduled to hear petitions protesting the Delhi High Court judgment decriminalising consensual sex between same-sex adults today, a think-tank for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is refusing to give up the fight against Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Love knows no boundaries: The petition was sent yesterday, a day
before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear petitions protesting the
Delhi High Court judgment decriminalising consensual sex between
same-sex adults. Representation pic
Under fire from the LGBT community for his alleged homophobic remarks at a recent HIV/AIDS convention, members of the community have now approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to rap Azad and make his stand clear on gay issues. The online petition was started by MINGLE, an LGBT think-tank, a few days ago to protest against Azad's comments on gay sex being a disease. Though Azad later issued a clarification saying he was misquoted, the damage was done.
Yesterday, after 1,500 people signed the online petition, it was sent to the Prime Minister's Office, demanding an explanation from Azad and also suspension of the minister from the Health Ministry. Speaking to MiD DAY, Udayan Dhar, convener of MINGLE, said besides protesters in India, people from more than a dozen countries worldwide have taken exception to the Health Minister's comments and signed the petition. "We have asked the Prime Minister to take stern action against Azad as his statements were unconstitutional. We have also asked him to make his stand clear on issues of homosexuality," he said.
The group has also filed a Right to Information (RTI) application with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare seeking a clarification on the minister's remarks and its stand on homosexuality. "We believe it is egregious of the Health Minister to take a divergent stand when organisations affiliated to his own ministry have in the past endorsed acceptance of LGBTs. The minister's comments go against the National Aids Control Organisation's non-discriminatory stand on gay sex. Also, his statements are unscientific and go against the World Health Organisation's view on men having sex with men," said Dhar.
Muted protests in city
Members of the LGBT community in the city said that though they were also hurt and wanted to protest against the Health Minister's remarks, they did not wish to create a huge ruckus. "The Supreme Court is hearing appeals against the Delhi High Court judgment on July 11. Though we are against the Health Minister's comments, we have more important issues to focus on. And we don't want to create any fuss right now because the decriminalising of gay sex is once more going to come under the court scanner," said Bindu Madhav Khire, president of Samapathik Trust, the city's oldest organisation working for LGBT rights.u00a0u00a0
Azad's remarks
The media reported Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad as having made some pretty homophobic comments at a recent event, sparking off a controversy. "The disease of MSM (men having sex with men) is unnatural and not good for Indian society," Azad reportedly said at an HIV/AIDS conference on July 5. "This disease has come to India from foreign shores."
