Public Policy Discourse and Sexual Minorities: Balancing Democratic Aspirations, Political Expediency and Moral Rights

Date01 March 2022
AuthorSangita Dhal
Published date01 March 2022
DOI10.1177/00195561211058435
Subject MatterArticles
Public Policy Discourse
and Sexual Minorities:
Balancing Democratic
Aspirations, Political
Expediency and Moral
Rights
Sangita Dhal1
Abstract
LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual) is an
evolving issue which needs to be debated in the legislatures and political space in
general to deconstruct and redefine the narratives which have been influenced
by the dominant sociocultural stereotypes. This is important in the context of
the changing scenario worldwide involving the LGBTQIA+ community where
assertions are being witnessed to reclaim the democratic space and civil rights to
give shape to a more egalitarian and inclusive civic culture. This article highlights
the changing character of the public discourse on LGBTQIA+ community in India
in recent times and its impact on the judiciary and the political system. In the
light of the recent Supreme Court landmark verdict of decriminalising Section
377 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), the present article seeks to examine a vast
array of possibilities and challenges before the LGBTQIA+ community. The legal
safeguards guaranteed through judicial pronouncements by the Supreme Court
(6 September 2018), however, do not ensure the creation of an enabling social
environment to accept homosexuality as a ‘normal behaviour’. Hence, unless
corresponding corrective measures are taken to bring about social reforms for
change of perception towards the homosexuality community, no amount of judi-
cial intervention will guarantee their inclusion in the mainstream.
Keywords
Identity, sexual minorities, discrimination, diversity, rights, justice
‘I am what I am, so take me as I am’.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
68(1) 34–47, 2022
© 2022 IIPA
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/00195561211058435
journals.sagepub.com/home/ipa
1 Department of Political Science, Kalindi College, University of Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Sangita Dhal, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Kalindi College, University of
Delhi, Delhi 110009, India.
E-mails: sangitad1502@gmail.com; sangitadhal@kalindi.du.ac.in

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