It’s Time For India To Show Support At UN For The LGBT Community

Petition urges India to vote in favour of UN Mandate on sexual orientation and gender identity.

A man poses with the LGBTQ flag following Supreme Court’s verdict.

(Photo: AP/Rafiq Maqbool)

A petition has been released on Change.org to urge Prime Minister Modi to vote in favour of The United Nation mandate on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Over the years India has come forward to show their support towards the LGBT community. In 2014 a NALSA judgment was made to make people rethink notions of gender identity. This became a larger movement and led to the judiciary passing a verdict on section 377 which decriminalised homesexuality.

The petition talks about UN’s HRC (Human Rights Council) coming together to vote on a resolution moved by latin American states in a bid to renew the mandate on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) passed by the first UN expert.

India abstained from 11 of the 17 votes, when a similar resolution was introduced in the UN before. Their stance which was hostile earlier is being urged to change after the many years of the community striving for inclusivity and respect.

On 11 July, a big decision lies upon India with respect to the LGBT community and it’s vote on the HRC matter will truly portray how far the nation has come.

The petition was started by politician Varun Sardesai and has gained a lot of traction on Twitter under #India4LGBT. People have tweeted back to him with support galore, including MP Shashi Tharoor who urged people to sign the petition.

3000 people having already signed this petition.

Photo courtesy : Priya Dutt/Twitter 

We hope this initiative tips the hand of our government to stand up for the community!