As Delhi Parades For Gay Pride, Tharoor Wants Sec 377 Scrapped

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says he will introduce a Private Member’s Bill to Scrap 377

File photo of participants taking part in a gay pride march in New Delhi in June 2009. (Photo: Reuters)

As hundreds of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) activists and supporters celebrated the 8th Delhi Queer Pride parade from Barakhamba Road to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday, a prominent parliamentarian too came out in support of the community.

Shashi Tharoor today spoke on Twitter, about scrapping Section 377 that criminalises “sex against the order of nature”.

The MP from Thiruvananthapuram said he had introduced a private members bill in Parliament to scrap 377 about ten days ago, and that he hoped it would be taken up for discussion.

Gaurav Gogoi, Member of Parliament from Kaliabor, Assam and son of current Chief Minister of Assam, retweeted Tharoor’s tweet, expressing his full support.

Speaking at Times LitFest yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that Supreme Court should reconsider its judgement on Sec 377. At the same event, Congress MP P Chidambaram had also expressed his support to scrap Sec 377.

A Private Member’s bill can be introduced by any Member of Parliament who is not a member of the cabinet (executive)

The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, was also a Private Member’s Bill that was introduced by DMK MP Tiruchi N Siva in the Rajya Sabha and was passed unanimously by the House on April 24, 2015, but is pending to be passed in Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, the queer pride parade in Delhi was centered on two issues — one, to repeal Section 377 that criminalises same-sex, and second, to demand dignity for LGBTQ people and stop harassment they face because of their gender and sexuality.

The march began around 2.40 pm and saw hundreds of LGBT people and their supporters walk the two-km stretch between Barakhamba Road and Jantar Mantar. The march was as expected colourful and vibrant. Slogans of “I’m gay, that’s ok” reverberated throughout the march.