Interview: Centre has stalled queer marriage debate in Parliament. It must stop being hypocritical

Elected politicians represent the queer community just as much as they represent others and that means they are accountable for protecting the rights of queer people as well, says activist Anish Gawande.

For Gawande, the founder of The Pink List India that tracks politicians supporting queer rights and is aimed at pushing for accountability and transparency from elected representatives, the hypocrisy of the government as well as Opposition political parties on the matter is unsurprising. “This is politics, boss,” Gawande told Scroll in an interview.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on April 26 told the Supreme Court that marriage equality, or same-sex/queer marriage, should be discussed in Parliament. Since April 18, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions seeking marriage equality transcending gender norms. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Central government has strongly objected to the demand.

The court ruling on the matter might be “detrimental” to the queer community, Mehta told the bench, as it would be “forcing something that is against the will of the people”.

But, points out Gawande, the government has repeatedly prevented Parliament from discussing the issue. “The only solution to countering such hypocrisy is to stop celebrating breadcrumbs of acceptance,” says Gawande. For him, that means re-framing the fight for rights as a demand...

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