Psychiatrists Support Repeal of India's Sodomy Law

Three medical leaders call for India to decriminalise homosexuality in a letter published in the Hindustan Times today:

No place for a colonial relic
We ask the Home Minister to decriminalise homosexuality in India. As an emerging global power, India cannot continue to rely on archaic colonial laws that are nearly 150 years old and which oppress a group of citizens whose sexuality is a normal variation of human behaviour.

Speaking as representatives of the mental health profession, we assert that there is no evidence that homosexuality is a mental illness, now supported by a large body of research. But as a result of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code still being law, there is government sanction of such discrimination. A group of citizens are being unjustifiably denied essential freedoms, and are often physically abused and blackmailed by the police and other malicious individuals.

Dr E. Mohandas, President-Elect, Indian Psychiatric Society
Dr Nada Stotland, President, American Psychiatric Association
Prof Dinesh Bhugra, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists