Gays, lesbians in Kolkata protest against discrimination

Kolkata, Nov 29 : Hundreds of gays and lesbians in Kolkata staged a protest against discrimination on Friday.

Holding up placards and shouting slogans, they sought to attract the attention of people towards their plight.

They also protested against a law that terms homosexuality as unnatural and a criminal offence.

"I think what you see here is a gathering of people of civil society organisations, human rights advocates, activists, who support the issue, who want to end violence against all particularly all sexuality minorities," said Anindya Hajra, a protester.

Homosexuality is banned in India under a law first framed British colonialists. It is now codified under Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which defines it as a carnal act against the order of nature.

Some rights groups have moved court, asking the government to repeal the law.

The sexually marginalized community feels Indian society continues to stigmatize transgender, gays, lesbians and bisexuals and that Section 377 of the IPC is archaic and abusive towards their existence as normal human beings.

A report claims that there are about 50 million gays in India. Similar estimates for women are more difficult to collect, owing to social and cultural inhibitions.

ANI