Shashi Tharoor's New Bill Could Finally Protect India's LGBTQ Community

“Most Indians would agree that your sexual preferences, sexuality, and partner should be your choice. Unfortunately the prevailing law of the land - drafted by Victorian-era Englishmen in 1860 - doesn’t agree. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code gives the state the authority to tell you what you can and cannot do in your bedroom,” writes Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a telling article for NDTV.

Dr. Tharoor has long been a champion for the LGBTQ cause, more so, the fight for equality for all citizens. Twice in the span of three months the Lok Sabha voted against the introduction of a private member’s Bill by Mr. Tharoor for decriminalising homosexuality - but he aptly title his NDTV piece, he’s not giving up his fight, instead, extending it all those Indians who face discrimination, persecution and oppression almost on a daily basis.

On March 10, Dr. Tharoor introduced the ‘Anti-Discrimination and Equality Bill 2016,’ drafted with guidance from Oxford Law Professor, Tarunabh Khaitan. “The Bill is an effort to respond, among other events, to Rohith Vemula’s tragic suicide, which has put the need for an antidiscrimination legislation back on the political agenda. India is amongst the few regimes with a constitutional commitment to a liberal democracy that nevertheless lack a comprehensive, multi-ground, anti-discrimination legislation,” expressed Professor Khaitan.

Section 377 has been used as an effective tool to threaten and extort the LGBTQ community since its inception. India is already extremely conservative and sadly seems to be becoming more so every day—and when you add the unwanted trouble and attention that Section 377 brings (especially to the millions of closeted LGBTQ individuals) it is a powerful tool in the hands of a corrupt bureaucracy and police force. And, it’s not just Section 377 Dr. Tharoor’s Bill seeks to take on, but it has taken the form of an all-encompassing cloak of protection for all opinionated and dissenting voices that have stood to challenge heteronormative society and the hyper-nationalistic stance it has adopted in recent times. It has brought under its purview a variety of contemporary cases of inequality, misconduct and mistreatment, such as charges of sedition slapped upon Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar, the thrashing of a differently abled individual for not standing up for the national anthem, sexual harassment of women at the workplace, the baseless eviction by a landlord of his northeastern tenants, beating of couples in public places by the ‘protectors of Indian culture’ - anyone that has faced abuse based on caste, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation or race.

Dr. Tharoor has attempted to make the Bill as wide in its reach as possible, and its passing, which we can only hope means a lot of changes for Indian society. Realistically speaking, on-ground enforcement of the Indian Penal Code is far from optimal, however, knowing that in future cases of discrimination and possible violence, having a legitimate legal framework to fall back on for redressal is an important tool for the functioning of a healthy democracy.

In the report by Live Law, Professor Khaitan states, “While the UPA government did briefly consider setting up an Equal Opportunity Commission, the idea was quietly buried. Anti discrimination law remains a key demand of groups representing women, gays, lesbians, transgendered persons, and persons living with disability. The policy debate on an anti discrimination law has been going on for about a decade. It is hoped that the existence of a draft Bill will give concrete shape to this conversation and draw attention to details.”

Click here to read Dr. Tharoor’s article ‘I’m Not Giving Up On Fighting Section 377,’ and view the complete draft bill here.