Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 15:00:48 -0500 (GMT-0500) From: "Thomas W. Holt Jr." International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Emergency Response Network INDIA'S ANTI SODOMY LAW PREVENTS CONDOM DISTRIBUTION TO PRISONERS Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which makes sodomy a crime, is being cited by prison authorities in India to justify their refusal to distribute condoms among inmates. Recently, the Inspector General of Prisons, Kiran Bedi, refused to supply condoms to inmates in India's largest prison, Delhi's Tihar Jail, on the grounds that Section 377 makes homosexuality illegal. In response, the Delhi based AIDS Bedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA) filed a public interest petition earlier this summer in the High Court of Delhi challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377. ABVA was founded in 1988 and campaigns against AIDS and in support of lesbian and gay emancipation. The group hopes to obtain the distribution of condoms to prisoners in the Tihar Jail to prevent the spread of the Human Immunodefieciency Virus (HIV). Preliminary hearings on the petition have taken place. Deliberations are expected to begin in force this Fall. Respectfully worded letters should be written to demand the availability of adequate health care facilities, including ensuring condom distribution to all citizens, regardless of whether they are in jail or not. Write to: Director National AIDS Control Organization Red Cross Road New Delhi 110001 India Letters are also needed demanding the repeal of Section 377. Please make the following points: (1) The right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of India's Constitution. (2) Drafted in 1883 by the British, Section 377 is an anachronistic vestige of Victorianism. England itself decriminalized private adult consensual acts in 1967. (3) The President of the Indian Medical Association has, like the American Psychiatric Association, agreed that homosexuality is not pathological. It's continued criminalization has no scientific justification. (4) The idea that homosexuality is a Western import is erroneous, as any perusal of ancient Indian art, sculpture and literature will show. Write to: Ministry of Home Affairs Union of India North Block 1 New Delhi 110001 India IGLHRC For more information contact us at tel. (415) 255-8660 fax (415) 255-8662 e-mail: iglhrc@igc.apc.org