“Gay sex is highly immoral and against social order and there is high chance of spreading of diseases through such acts,” said Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P P Malhotra, a government official in the Union Ministry for Home Affairs, before the Indian Supreme Court today.
We hope that little “Additional” qualification on his title means “lesser” or “extra,” because those sure are some dangerously backward views on gay sex—not that the likes of Santorum and American conservatives are much more advanced. Unfortunately, the Minister of Home Affairs is an office that’s almost as powerful as that of the Prime Minister in India.
The Indian High Court ruled in 2009 to decriminalize gay sex (which carried a maximum penalty of life in prison), but now a conservative backlash has uprisen and the Court is hearing anti-gay-sex arguments.
“Our Constitution is different and our moral and social values are also different from other countries, so we cannot follow them,” Malhotra continued, according to the Deccan Herald. He also added that the societal stigma against gay sex is enough reason to ban it.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Yes, and the collective societal disgust around picking one’s nose means we ought to criminalize that, too.
But! Not one minute before we were about to publish this article, we saw a new article in the Deccan Chronicle alerting us that the Home Minister has already distanced itself from Malhotra’s severe statements. Does this mean that Malhotra took a page from Sarah Palin and went rogue?
“Ministry of Home Affairs has not taken any position on homosexuality,” the office said. “Ministry of Home Affairs has also not given any instruction apart from conveying the decision of the Cabinet.”
The whole thing is a mess. Stay tuned.
Photo of Bangalore Gay Pride via Vinayak Das
Nick
Glad to see you’re covering international gay news, Evan, but just FYI–picking your nose in public isn’t considered gross or a stigmatized behavior in India. The joke goes that in the US you can kiss on the street but you have to pee in the bathroom, but in India you can pee on the street but have to kiss in the bathroom (or some other private place). They have very different attitudes than we do in the US or Western Europe about bodily functions and sexuality.
Chad
When people say ” gay sex”, they r usually meaning ” anal sex, which is neither gay or straight. The only group that can’t have that so-called “gay sex” r lesbians. And they’re GAY!!! But most people would agree with him, gay and straight, ” anal sex is GROSS, and DISEASE INFECTED. And thankfully, most gay men don’t perform it.
Taylor
This is from a country that houses the Kama Sutra, which gives advice on how to have better sex (which, yes, includes sex of the homosexual nature).
From India
Mr Evan Mulvihill, the person mentioned in the article is NOT a minister as you have mentioned in the title. He’s an “additional SG”, one among a group of 14+ lawyers who represent the Union Government in the Supreme Court of India, similar to the deputy solicitor general in your DoJ.