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Deeds not words: Why BJP proved itself a better ally of LGBTQI+ community than Congress

Sep 7 (AZINS) Heteronormative binaries, the desire to categorise everything into neat brackets, is the bugbear of the LTGBQI community. The same problem arises when we try to label our two national parties – the BJP and Congress. At face value one would say that the Congress is a ‘liberal’ party with an umbrella for diverse ideologies, while the BJP is an ethno-nationalist ‘conservative’ party with strict adherence to some values.

This is prima facie the impression an alien would get if they were to land suddenly in India and observe the political discourse after the SC read down the archaic Section 377 colonial-era criminalising gay sex (among other vaguely-defined sexual acts).

While the Congress went out of its way to celebrate the decision, BJP maintained radio silence.

Even those of the perceived saffron-leanings held their tongue, neither criticising nor praising the decision.   Of course, the sole exception was the anomaly known as Subramanian Swamy, who prima facie appears to be sum of a reminder of an unbalanced equation from some previous version of the Matrix. Swamy vacillated from comparing homosexuality to a genetic deformity to calling it an American conspiracy to open gay bars.

But Swamy’s brilliant epiphanies aside, the BJP maintained a pin-drop silence, with not a single word from any of the gentlemen who have five different opinions about everything, livening our Twitter feeds and news studios every day.

Even the likes of Arun Jaitley, Prakash Javadekar and Sushma Swaraj – people who’ve been vocal about de-criminalisation - kept away from the debate.

The RSS on the other hand, backed the decision, even though it said that same-sex marriage was unnatural.

On the other hand, Congress was quite vocal about their feelings, hailing the decision, sharing videos and giving bytes.

All in all, it was a bizarre sight given that the Congress in almost seven decades of ruling never stood up for rights, while the ‘conservative’ BJP was the one who refused to stand in the path of progress.

In a short succinct statement in July 2018, ASG Mehta presented the government views stating that as far as the consensual acts of adults in private were concerned, it would leave it to the wisdom of the court. It’s important to note that the BJP took a risk by angering a core voter-base.

It’s a risk Congress was never willing to take. In 2013, when the 2009 Delhi HC case was being heard ASG PP Malhotra representing the Congress-led UPA Centre, said that decriminalising Sec 377 would be 'immoral, unethical and abhorrent'. The Cong-led Centre would file a review in 2014 but it was rejected by SC. 

There was actually quite a lot of muddled thinking in the Congress. In UPA I, the Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Law Minister HR Bhardwaj were opposed to de-criminalisation while Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss was pro-decriminalisation, particularly in view of healthcare solutions to battle HIV/AIDS. This bickering actually led to Dr Manmohan Singh cracking the whip.

Even though it had the chance, Congress passed up the opportunity in 2013 to not oppose the SC judgement re-criminalising homosexuality in 2013. With the ball lobbed into executive’s court by the judiciary, the UPA dithered even though Sonia Gandhi expressed disappointment. 

UPA II Law Minister Kapil Sibal admitted today, that there was a lack of consensus among the party and Parliament.

So even as Congress went into the ‘log kya kahenge mode’, Modi government’s refusal to be a hurdle helped the LGBT community in their fight. Perhaps the only exception was Dr Shashi Tharoor who tried to bring a private bill in 2015 but was defeated.  The Congress might surely be more vocal now, but it’s mere lip-service considering the years the community fought to be treated equally. Deeds weigh more than words, and sudden verbosity now won’t erase decades of apathy. The Congress, when it was in power, didn't bite the bullet as it was wary of repercussions from the deeply socially conservative Indian society. Now, that the change has indeed taken place, its posturing comes across an effort to gain cheap brownie points without doing the requisite legwork.

Should the PM have been more vocal? Certainly, it would have been heartening for any youngster fighting for identity against steep social stigma to hear Modi's mann ki baat.

Of course, this is the first step, and we might see the homophobia out in the open as we go down the road when we discuss workplace discrimination, LGBT rights, healthcare, choosing nominees, same-sex marriage and the issues that pertain to an individual’s right to freedom. The war for true equal rights have only just begun and the LGBTQI+ community would need support from all quarters of the socirty. But as things stand now, BJP has been a better ally of the LGBTQI+ community than the Congress. They took a stand, Congress just posted some videos.

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