SECTION 377

NYAYAPATI GAUTAM
WHY THIS DISCUSSION TODAY?
Jan 2014 The SC dismissed petitions that
sought a review of their ruling in December re-
criminalising gay sex.
Possibility of a Curative Petition being filed to
overturn the ruling.
Activists to engage political parties for a
legislation that de-criminalises gay sex.

SUPPORT
After the SC's refused to accept the petition
Harish Salve tweeted saying,
"Fundamental right to freedom of choice and
conscience is to protect those in minority from
majoritarianism.
Another petition should be now filed asserting that
the earlier judgment is not a binding authority being
violative of art. 145(3) which mandates 5 judges."

ADULT CONTENT
Statutory Warning
The next few slides have graphic information. The
non-adults in the auditorium PLEASE LEAVE
THE BIRDS & THE BEES
Honey Bee:
The drones (a select few) who are chosen go on a
mating flight with The virgin queen.
These drones are NOT lucky.
During mating, their genitals explode and snap off
inside the queen.
ARGENTINE LAKE DUCK
The male Argentine lake duck measures about
17 inches. That also happens to be the length
of its organ.
It is used to brush away sperms deposited by a
previous suitor.
The drake also uses it to "lasso" a female who tries
to escape from it.






CICHLID FISH MATING RITUAL

Cichlid fish eggs are fertilized by the male
while they're being carried in the female's mouth.
HOMOSEXUALITY IN ANIMALS
Dwarf chimpanzee is one of humanity's closest
relatives.
The entire species is bisexual.
"Sex among dwarf chimpanzees is in fact the
business of the whole family
HOMOSEXUALITY IN ANIMALS
Lions are homosexual.
Male lions usually band together with their brothers
to lead the pride.
They strengthen the bonds by having sex with each
other.
Homosexuality is also quite common among
dolphins and killer whales.
Animals that live a completely homosexual life
can also be found.
Geese and Ducks.
Four to five percent of the couples are homosexual.

SECTION 377
The actual law (IPC Section 377) 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 term
which may extend to ten years, and shall also be
liable to fine".

QUESTIONS
What is against the course of nature?
Is it a disease? Or is it a condition?
Either way, should it be a criminal activity?
Any mention in Indian culture?
Should there be a law that governs this aspect
of life?
How open are we as individuals to accepting
the LGBT community?

DOES IT TARGET HOMOSEXUALS?
Section 377 does not target homosexuals but in
effect makes gay sex a criminal offence.
The Delhi high court had on July 2, in 2009
decriminalised gay sex as provided in Section
377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and had
ruled that sex between two consenting adults in
private would not be an offence.

JUSTICE SHAH
Justice Shah said the British, who had
introduced Section 377 as they feared:
"their army and daughters would be tainted by
Oriental vices",
had repealed it in their own country.
Their judicial committee recommended that "for
consenting adults, it should not be a crime".
Gay sex by consenting adults was not a crime
in all of Europe and the US.


JUSTICE SHAH
Morality:
What was envisaged in the Constitution was not
popular morality. "Probably, public morality is the
reflection of the moral normative values of the
majority of the population, but constitutional morality
derives its contents from the values of the
Constitution," he said.

HC ORDER
All that the high court had done was to read
down Section 377 so that this criminal provision
applied only to non-consensual acts of
homosexuality.
The court was dealing with a challenge to the
constitutionality of the provision which
penalises
anybody who "voluntarily has carnal intercourse
against the order of nature".

SC VERDICT
The bench of Justices Singhvi and S J
Mukhopadhaya reversed the Delhi HC's 2009
verdict and held that the 150-year-old Section 377,
criminalizing gay sex,
"does not suffer from the vice of unconstitutionality.
The bench said:
"In the light of plain meaning and legislative history of
the section, we hold that Section 377 IPC would apply
irrespective of age and consent.
"It is relevant to mention here that Section 377 IPC
does not criminalize a particular people or identity or
orientation. It merely identifies certain acts, which if
committed, would constitute an offence. Such
prohibition regulates sexual conduct regardless of
gender identity and orientation,
REASONS SEEKING STAY
The members of the LGBT community became
open about their sexual identity.
At risk
It is contrary to the well-settled legal principles
of the Constitution.
Proscribing certain sexual acts between consenting
adults in private, demeans and impairs the dignity
of all individuals under Article 21, irrespective of
their sexual orientation
RELIGIOUS FIGURES
Baba Ramdev:
The practice of homosexuality is unscientific,
unnatural, uncivilised, immoral, irreligious and
abnormal.
Cure for homosexuality
I invite them to my ashram. Two people belonging to
opposite sex will be kept in one room for a few days and
they will be cured of homosexuality.
Homosexuality is not genetic. If our parents were
homosexuals, then we would not have been born.
So it's unnatural.

RELIGIOUS FIGURES
Md afzaal Rizvi, a Bareilly-based cleric, has
issued a fatwa against homosexuality.
Such acts could attract severe punishment, he
said.
"A person may be burnt alive, pushed from a high
wall or be beaten publically with stones if he
indulges into either of the two behaviours," the
fatwa states.
RELIGIOUS FIGURES
Spokesperson of the Archdiocese Father
Dominique Emmanuel said,
I am equally disappointed with the SC judgement.
It is not a criminal act."
However, he disagreed that this law was
denying the LGBT community its fundamental
rights.
"They are not denied fundamental rights. In fact
psychiatrists have made clear that this is unnatural.
President of the Indian Psychiatric Society herself
said it,"


IMPACT
Blanket criminalisation of LGBT persons makes
it harder to reach them for AIDS treatment.
Concerns of heterosexual couples.