The Supreme Court of India's most recent judgement declaring homosexuality to be a crime is a cruel throwback to more primitive times. In Canada, justice minister Pierre Trudeau in the late 60s before he became the Prime Minister of Canada had declared that the state had no business in the bedrooms of the nation. Homosexuality was decriminalised then. I have not lived in India since December 31, 1964. As the land that gave me birth and nurtured me for the first 17 years of my life India has never been too far from my thoughts. The Delhi High court had declared the current law to be unconstitutional thereby decriminalising homosexuality. The government of India has been doing hypocritical gyrations on this issue. The central government has behaved totally without principle and ethics. The Supreme Court of India is allegedly an activist court. They wander into law making in the blink of an eye on matters such as the red light domes on' VIP' cars. Not something most Indians could argue with. On matters of courage of conscience such as real human rights for gay and lesbian Indians the mighty Justices have shown an utter lack of judicial intestinal fortitude.
I write on this issue both as a Canadian and an Indian. Canada now allows same sex marriage. When I was the Attorney General in the 90s in British Columbia I shepherded legislation in the BC Legislature providing for survivorship rights to pensions for the surviving common law or married gay and lesbian couples. I also successfully pushed through the legislature changes to family law providing for alimony and child support for separated gay and lesbian spouses. I was the first Attorney General and Premier of any province in Canada to walk in a Gay Pride Parade.
The Supreme Court of India treads and impinges easily on the powers of Parliament and the state legislature for easy accolades. All power to the top Court particularly when the legislators are busy pursuing pure power, not change for the better. But shame on the Court for chickening out when it really counted for the excluded and the unfairly despised minority: the homosexuals. Today the Supreme Court of India stands diminished in the eyes of Indians and the world.
