NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (AFP) - India is not ready to accept gays, the government has said, in response to a Supreme Court petition seeking to amend a law banning homosexuality.
"Public opinion and the current societal context in India does not favor the deletion of the said offence from the statute books," says the affidavit posted on the web site of the Lawyer's Collective.
The collective filed the petition earlier this year on behalf of AIDS prevention group Naz Foundation.
"Public morality ... must prevail over the exercise of any private right," the affidavit said.
A Home Ministry official confirmed Thursday to AFP that the government had filed an affidavit in reply to the petition, but declined to discuss its contents.
Section 377 of the Indian penal code prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal".
The group that brought the suit said the government's response was inconsistent with its own efforts to stem the spread of AIDS.
"It's a bit bizarre. One the one hand the government is saying this and on the other hand the National Aids Control Organization talks about funding programs for men who have sex with men," said Anjali Gopalan, executive director of Naz.
The government filed the affidavit on September 26 after the Supreme Court asked it to respond to the April petition filed by the advocacy group, which wants the law amended to create an exception for consenting adults.
The organization, which went to the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court threw out the petition, says that the illegal status of homosexuality in India is hampering its efforts with groups at risk of infection.
"Police harass gay men and outreach workers, cops will have sex with men or threaten them for money," added Gopalan.
But the Indian government said "no specific instance or reasons have been given" of how the organization was hindered in its work.
In October, India's Planning Commission, which makes policy recommendations to the Indian government, also said that the criminal status of gays and sex workers was slowing AIDS prevention efforts and should be changed.
Other groups working on AIDS prevention agree.
"The benefit of a law is that they would be saved from blackmail by the police. People wouldn't be so secretive, so it would be easier to reach out to them," said Henry Francis, a field worker with Development Advocacy and Research Trust, which works primarily with male sex workers.
But he pointed out that changing the law would not necessarily change people's attitudes.
"Frankly speaking even I feel our society is not yet prepared to accept this issue. It is difficult (for Indians) to accept that there are people like this," said Francis. "But we are trying to change that slowly."
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