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Loading ...Indian Gov’t Calls Homosexuality ‘A Sickness’
10.21.2008 5:43pm EDT
(Delhi) The High Court in Delhi has issued a harshly worded rebuke to the Indian government for calling homosexuality a disease that cannot be tolerated.
The government assertion came during a court case challenging India’s sodomy law. The case was filed by LGBT rights groups and AIDS outreach organizations.The law against homosexual sex that dates to the British colonial era. The law, which forbids sexual acts "against the order of nature," carries punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
It is rarely enforced, but activists say it sanctions discrimination.
Solicitor General, PP Malhotra, representing the government, told the High Court that the law should not be overturned, because homosexuality was a disease which was responsible for the spread of AIDS in the country.
"AIDS is already spreading in the country and if gay sex is legalized then people on the streets would start indulging in such practices saying that the High Court has approved of it," he told the court.
The remark brought a swift reply from the bench.
"Show us one report which says that it is a disease. A [World Health Organization] paper says that it is not a disease but you are describing it as a disease. It is an accepted fact that it is a main vehicle that causes [the AIDS] disease but it is not a disease itself," demanded Chief Justice AP Shah.
An exasperated Malhotra sat down.
The government has refused to consider repealing the law, calling homosexuality an evil exported from western countries.
Still, there are signs that homosexuality is becoming more accepted in India, at least in big cities. In New Delhi, gay and lesbian groups hold biweekly movie screenings and parties, and organizers say attendance is rising. Newspaper editorials have called for revisions to the law, and prominent writers and human rights activists have signed petitions expressing their support.
In June hundreds of people chanted for gay rights marched in three Indian cities — Calcutta, Bangalore and New Delhi — in the largest display of gay pride ever held in India.
@ Bud’s comment, of course there are more heterosexuals with HIV virus or AIDS they are a majority!!! There by numbers will be more of them, that is logical but there is no doubt that homosexual sex spreads the disease more effectively and that the homosexual culture is ladened with it.
I like this article because it shows that not only “the religous right wing (in the USA)” disagree with the lifestyle.
Homosexuality should of course be decriminalized and destigmatizeds in India so that hopefully both men and women in that country can safely come forth one day and get tested for HIV/AIDS, a disease on the increase in India. The Indian government should be decreasing the fear not increasing it so that people can help if they need it. And also finding a way to get meds to those who have the illness.
simple solution….. just tell any company that has you talking to customer reps in some part of India that you will take your business to a company that lets you talk to customer reps in the USA. I am fed up with our jobs beinging the “American dream to India” while the lack of the same jobs is craating an unemployment nightmare here in the USA.
But on the flip side of the coin….Americans who can afford some luxuries really and truly need to get used to a downscaled lifestyle of less expensive homes, less luxurious cars and fewer vacations, fewer lattes and fewer pricy restaurant meals and way less foolish and unnecessary credit card spending leading into less personal debt so that companies can afford to hire them right here in the USA.
‘The law, which forbids sexual acts “against the order of nature,” carries punishment of up to 10 years in prison.’
What are they talking about? A gay man forcing himself to have sex with woman? Condom use? People marrying animals or statues?
What?..
The follow line by the Chief Justice is total BS: “It is an accepted fact that it (homosexuality) is a main vehicle that causes [the AIDS] disease but it is not a disease itself,” demanded Chief Justice AP Shah.
Uh…just a minute here, Judge. Heterosexual sex accounts for the vast, vast majority of HIV/AIDS worldwide. According to the World Health Organization more straight women are infected than heterosexual men and more heterosexual men are infected than homosexual men, on the whole, globally.
This is especially true in Africa — which accounts for most of the HIV/AIDS cases. Worldwide, heterosexuals still account for more HIV/AIDS cases. In the United States and in Europe MSM may still account for more HIV/AIDS, but the numbers are moving up for heterosexual infections.
Unfortunately, there is still this stigma attached to homosexuality that only bears witness to the fact that too many heterosexuals still cannot take responsibility for their own unsafe sex practices. Finding a scapegoat is so much easier than facing facts.
Heterosexual spread of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa is rampant – with infection rates exceeding 40 per cent of adults in Swaziland, the worst-affected country. HIV/AIDS in South Africa accounts for approximately 25% of the population — primarily through heterosexual contact.
According to the British Newspaper, “The Independent”, AIDS still kills more adults than all wars and conflicts combined, and is vastly bigger than current efforts to address it. A joint WHO/UN AIDS report published this month showed that nearly three million people are now receiving anti-retroviral drugs in the developing world, but this is less than a third of the estimated 9.7 million people who need them. In all there were 33 million people living with HIV in 2007, 2.5 million people became newly infected and 2.1 million died of AIDS.
HIV/AIDS STATISTICS (from http://projects.psi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Statistics_nr&gclid=CIm1s4X6uZYCFRKIxwodOjaemQ )
Global
33.2 million people now live with HIV or AIDS.
In 2007, approximately 2.5 million people were infected with HIV.
Every day, over 6800 people become infected with HIV – almost five people per minute.
5700 people die from AIDS every day.
One child dies every minute.
15 million children around the world have been orphaned by AIDS, losing one or both parents to the disease.
Every fifteen seconds, another person age 15-24 becomes infected with HIV/AIDS.
USA
Roughly one million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.
Since the start of the AIDS epidemic, 1.5 million Americans have been infected with HIV and more than 524,000 have died of AIDS.
At least 40,000 people are infected each year.
African Americans account for 48% of new HIV infections.
AIDS is the leading cause of death for African American women aged 25 to 34 and HIV rates among Hispanic women are increasing.
The number of women living with HIV has tripled in the last two decades.
At least half of all new infections are among people under the age of 25.
Washington, DC has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the United States – one in 20 people are living with HIV or AIDS.
Who is affected by HIV and AIDS in India? (according to The International Aids Charity at: http://www.avert.org/aidsindia.htm )
“People living with HIV in India come from incredibly diverse backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles. The vast majority of infections occur through heterosexual sex, and most of those who become infected would not fall into the category of ‘high-risk groups’…”
So the Indian Judge, although well intentioned, is still full of hogwash. Let’s not allow non-factual public health hysterics to conflate with individual rights. One’s HIV status, whether positive or negative, whether homosexual or heterosexual, should have nothing at all to do with one’s civil rights.
~ Bud Evans
I can believe that “outsourcing” is an addiction of the US Republican party and the corporations which they support with corporate welfare.
While alcoholism is an addiction, and heroine is an addiction, both of which can be overcome with great difficulty and perserverence, I doubt that the Republicans can ever overcome “outsourcing addiction”, “corporate welfare” and “evil greed”.
Does that mean that outsourcing to India is a sickness? I’m sure outsourcing can be cured, I don’t know about homosexuality.