Politics Might Not, But Minds Change
By: Snigdha Jain (CCS Intern)
‘On Gay Marriage, It’s O.K. To Waffle’ by Margaret Talbot from The New Yorker reports that same sex marriages have now been legalised in the State of New York because some politicians changed their hearts at the last minute. Talbot tells us how sometimes a change of heart can lead to extraordinary results.
That’s New York, and of course this victory will have larger positive implications for the rest of the United States, but let’s see what Indian politicians have to say about same-sex marriages. Below is a list of quotes from some of the prominent leaders and opinion makers of India. It’s a mixed bag; we do hope some of them have a change of heart if not a change of mind.
• BJP Party’s Secretary, Arunachal Pradesh, Kiren Rijiju said, “They [gay people] need to be given their space, and they need to be given their rights.”
• BJP’s national executive member from Andhra Pradesh Nirmala Sitharaman thinks “We must handle this debate with an open mind, expecting an outcome that is favourable to the minority (gay) community. The real challenge is to see if there is a perceptible change in the mindset of the families towards this new emerging social reality. One only hopes that we are always conscious of our culturally tolerant past.”
• Senior BJP leader B P Singhal, who had opposed in the High Court legalization of gay sex, challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court saying such acts are illegal, immoral and against ethos of Indian culture.
• Dr. Shakeel Ahmed, member of Indian National Congress (INC) responded to a question on the fate of Section 377 and gay rights saying that the government was discussing this issue. He said that the debate on this issue was also on within the party.
• “We need to examine the details of the judgment. Let me examine it” said Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, of the INC government, after the High Court verdict.
• Islam does not sanction the practice of homosexuality, said an Islamic scholar in a TV debate. The representative of a church had a similar opinion. “Today, the court has legalized homosexuality,” argued a Hindu scholar. “Tomorrow, will it allow zoophilia and bestiality?”
• In 2005, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, from Rajpipla in the Gujarat state, publicly came out as gay. He was quickly anointed by the Indian and the world media as the first openly gay royal. He was disinherited as an immediate reaction by the royal family, though they eventually reconciled. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, and on BBC Three’s Undercover Princes.
• Zahid, a young Indian doctor reacted to the Delhi high court ruling by saying “It is really a great moment for the whole LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) community…For me it was a hope and that becoming a truth… is a miracle.”
• Balaji Ravichandran wrote in the Guardian in July 2009 “Hoping that homosexuality remains legal for good, the most important task ahead is to educate the public and raise public awareness about sexual minorities.”
