Tharoor says ‘intolerance’ after his bill to amend Section 377 rejected

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s private member’s bill to decriminalise gay sex was rejected in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with the former minister saying it was “surprising to see such intolerance”.

Tharoor had proposed to amend Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises homosexual acts between consenting adults.

The Supreme Court had ruled in 2013 that only Parliament can change Section 377, which prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”, and is widely interpreted to refer to homosexual intercourse. A lower court had overturned this section of the code in 2009.

“The bill proposes to restrict applicability of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to non-consensual sexual acts between persons or sexual acts with persons under the age of eighteen years as long as such acts are not punishable under sections 375, 376, 376A, 376B, 376C, 376D or 376E of the Indian Penal Code,” Tharoor’s proposal earlier said.

1/2 Intro of Pvt.Member's Bill2decriminalize consensual sex btwn consenting adults defeated in LS 71-24. Surprising to see such intolerance.

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 18, 2015

“Intro of Pvt.Member’s Bill2decriminalize consensual sex btwn consenting adults defeated in LS 71-24. Surprising to see such intolerance (sic),” Tharoor tweeted.

2/2 Notice of intent to oppose introducn of Bill came so late there was no time 2rally support. Will try again in future. We shall overcome!

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 18, 2015

“Notice of intent to oppose introducn of Bill came so late there was no time 2rally support. Will try again in future. We shall overcome!,” he added.

Read More:

Section 377 and the biases against sexual minorities in India

Sec 377 of IPC that criminalises gay sex may be scrapped: Gowda

Decoding section 377: How the verdict erased basic human rights

First Published: Dec 18, 2015 17:08 IST