Activists celebrate in New Delhi after SC's judgement partially repealing Section 377 Photo Credit: PTI Activists celebrate in New Delhi after SC's judgement partially repealing Section 377

New Delhi: Even as celebrations erupted across the nation among the LGBTQ community and its supporters, and the world hailed India’s apex court’s ruling to partially repeal the draconian Article 377 - the regressive colonial-era law that criminalised homosexuality, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy expressed regret over the landmark verdict. He said while he agrees that people from the LGBTQ community should not be discriminated against, he also feels that homosexuality should not become “an alternative mode of behaviour”.

The Supreme Court has partially scrapped Section 377 – a law that made sex between two consenting adults of the same gender a crime in the eyes of Indian judicial discourse. The Supreme Court ruled that “social morality cannot dictate the right of any individual”.

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Swamy, however, argued that the court has drawn a line on individuals’ right to have sex with animals. Swamy said he agrees that people should not be discriminated against for being homosexuals but has a problem with flaunting their homosexuality. “But they haven’t struck down the part which makes it a crime to have sex with animals – there they draw the line on individual rights. They said what you do in your privacy and in consent is your business. We did not have a problem with that”.

Swamy said the real issue is whether we should treat homosexuality as choice as an alternate mode of behaviour. “I have always maintained that it’s a genetic flaw like having six fingers on your hand,” Swamy said.

“It’s (homosexuality) not something that should put obstruction on your normal social being – but on the other hand having 6 fingers is not normal”. The Supreme Court said homosexuality is natural and denying anybody a right of self-expression is like death – to which Swamy argued that if they say it (gay sex) is natural, then why draw a line on animals? “Sex is sex –it’s an emotion – you have it with animals. It’s okay to be born homosexual but then don’t flaunt it…you can’t make it an alternative to normal sexual behaviour,” Swamy presented his own viewpoint.

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To discriminate someone for being homosexual is wrong – there should be no social and economic restrictions on them. If you flaunt it or propagate it – there should be some laws to deal with it, said the BJP leader.