Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Path-breaking

The path-breaking judgment of the Delhi High Court decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults will undoubtedly give a big boost to the struggle of LGBTs for equal rights. When the Indian Penal Code was drafted in 1860, it reflected the moral and social attitude of those times. Since then, society has undergone drastic changes and many amendments have been made to the law from time to time.

Though in effect, homosexuals have won their rights after the High Court verdict, the fact that the change came not from Parliament but the court is disturbing. The controversy generated by the judgment would have been absent had Parliament decriminalised homosexuality.

D.K. Bhatt,

Almora

Will the cultural police and self-appointed protectors of morality who denounce homosexuality call for bringing back practices such as sati, child marriage and human sacrifice because they were once part of society?

S. Radhakrishnan,

Coimbatore

The prevalence of homosexuality in our land in the olden days is well documented. It is even chronicled in art and sculpture. No one can disown the Hijras or Aravanis who exemplify the diversity of human sexuality. Advances in genetic knowledge confirm that sexual preference is in the genes. Whether the conservatives like it or not, gays are born into their condition and must be accepted as they are.

G. David Milton,

Maruthancode

Suman Chakravarthy,

Chennai

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