New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today said that being homosexual is “not normal”, is “against Hindutva”, and needs “medical research to see if it can be cure”, reported news agency ANI.
"It (homosexuality) is not a normal thing. We cannot celebrate it. It’s against Hindutva. We should invest in medical research to see if it can be cured,” Subramanian Swamy told ANI.
The comment of the Rajya Sabha MP came on the day a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court began hearing petitions against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalises same-gender sex.
Also Read: 'As society changes, values change', SC told during Sec 377 hearing
The BJP MP said that instead of a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court hearing petitions against Section 377, the government should consider having s seven or nine –judge bench.
Subramanian Swamy in 2015 had called homosexuality a “genetic flaw”.
Legitimizing homosexuality leads to commercial profit since Gay Bars will be opened in all cities on FDI. It is a genetic flaw celebrated
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) November 29, 2015
In January this year, Subramanian Swamy said Section 377 of the IPC should stay so that homosexuals who “flaunt” their sexual orientations need to be punished.
The BJP MP wants the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community to do whatever they want to do “in privacy” and not “celebrate” their sexuality.
“As long as they don't celebrate it, don't flaunt it, don't create gay bars to select partners it’s not a problem,” Subramanian Swamy said.
The Rajya Sabha MP added, “In their privacy what they do, nobody can invade but if you flaunt it, it has to be punished and therefore there has to be Section 377 of the IPC.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday rebuked the Centre for the delay in filing its response to petitions against Section 377 and said it wouldn’t grant more time. The Centre on Monday had requested the apex court for more time to file its response to the petitions to which the SC said that the matter had been pending for a while and the Centre should have filed its response by now.
In May, the Supreme Court decided to hear the plea filed by Indian Institute of Technology’s LGBT alumni association seeking scrapping of Section 377 of the IPC. Earlier, in April, Ashok Rao Kavi of Hamsafar Trust and Arif Jaffar also filed petitions against Section 377.
In 2009, in a landmark judgement, the Delhi High Court had decriminalised Section 377 as a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, but the order was later set aside by a bench of the Supreme Court in 2013.
The judgement by the Supreme Court in 2013 was highly criticised by the LGBTQ community in India and was seen as a setback for human rights.
Section 377 of the IPC states, “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 1[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
This archaic British law dates back to 1861 and criminalises sexual activities against the order of nature and the ambit of this law extends to any sexual union involving penile insertion.
