Status of LGBTQ community in gender equality

After the NALSA judgment the courts are taking progressive steps to empower and uphold the rights of the LGBTQ community. However, on the other hand, the legislature is invalidating the same rights. It is high time that the government should acknowledge and frame laws in accordance with the landmark judgment else the LGBTQ community will continue to face setbacks in their struggle to have the same rights as those available to heterosexual people. 

Around the world gender equality is a widely acknowledged issue. In the past, homosexuality was not considered to be at par with heterosexuality and homosexuals were legally denied and deprived of the basic civil rights. Even today, albeit a slew of changes, these people face harassment, discrimination and the threat of violence because of their sexual orientation.

The LGBTQ community has many typical problems. In some countries, being a member of the LGBTQ community is a mortal sin. The majority of people who belong to this community therefore hide their sexuality out of fear of losing their social status and jobs.

The landmark judgment of 2018 and the 2014 NALSA Judgment was a huge leap in the advancement of the LGBTQ rights movement in India. After the NALSA judgment the courts are taking progressive steps to empower and uphold the rights of the LGBTQ community. However, on the other hand, the legislature is invalidating the same rights. It is high time that the government should acknowledge and frame laws in accordance with the landmark judgment else the LGBTQ community will continue to face setbacks in their struggle to have the same rights as those available to heterosexual people.

India is essentially a country where straight sex is considered more a blessing on the other hand gay sex is considered a sin. There is a generational split in India between younger and older people with the majority of younger people supporting the concept of 'gay' marriage or marriage rights for gay, lesbian and bisexual couples.

In India, Christians, Muslims and Hindus have different laws for marriage and succession. These rights are available to married couples (heterosexuals) and not available to same-sex couples. Overall the state-based marriage laws are also increasingly constricting for this community.

In other words, all Indian personal laws appear to envisage marriage as only a heterosexual union. In this context, perhaps the most satisfactory recourse would be the consideration of same-sex marriage under Indian personal marriage laws.

The LGBTQ rights should be recognised as part of human rights. Non recognition of same-sex marriages, not allowing adoption, guardianship, surrogacy and IVF and not having access to safe LGBTQ inclusive schools, colleges and workplaces are all violations of Article 14, 15, 19, 21, 29 of the Indian Constitution.

According to Rakhi Khanna, a human rights activist, "The universal law of Human Rights states that social norms, customs, culture or traditions can never be a valid justification to suppress another individual from asserting his/her fundamental and constitutional rights. If we start justifying everything on the basis of cultural views, societal values and public policy then there will be no progressive legislation enacted in our country. Infact we would have never been able to eliminate the social evils of child marriage, Sati, dowry and infanticide, etc. There would have been no renaissance if the revolutionary social leaders of the yesteryears had been shackled by the weight of the stated and accepted social norms."

Therefore it is essential that the government must wipe away its conservative nature and should take concrete steps to eliminate the stigma, discrimination and abuse surrounding LGBTQ people. "It is high time that the government formulates new laws or amends existing laws on marriage, adoption, guardianship, inheritance educational institutions, employment, healthcare services, etc with a special focus on the LGBTQ community particularly the transgender community," says Rakhi.

Even in the workplaces the LGBTQ community has not really achieved equality. While there are some progressive organisations most human resource management (HRM) initiatives for gender equality in the workplace focus almost exclusively on heterosexual people leaving the problems of other gender and social minorities out of the analysis.

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