Centre’s stand on IPC 377 shameful: Akkai Padmashali

Mangaluru: The central government’s neutral stand on the constitutional validity of IPC Section 377 (unnatural offences) was a shameless response, said transgender activist Akkai Padmashali.

Akkai spoke at the release of, ‘Domestic and Sexual Violence: Claiming Voice, Rights and Dignity-A Gender Non-Conforming, Transgender And Sexual Minorities Lens On Love, Life and Laws’ which was released by Deputy commissioner S. Sasikanth Senthil, organised by Ondede, and Swatantra (Bengaluru) in association with the MSW Department of St. Aloysius College, and said that “it is an escapism on part of the central government. They should either uphold it or oppose it. Leaving the decision to the Supreme Court is a shameless act.”

“Why is the Prime Minister of India silent on the issue of sexual minorities’? The government cannot escape by just leaving the matter to the Supreme Court,” said Padmashali, the founder member of Ondede and added that the institutions of power in the nation have been dominating against sexual minorities.

Interacting with the media, Padmashali spoke about the statements on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy calling gay sex unnatural and advised him to think before he spoke and study about their community before giving statements.

The transgender community in the state has decided to appeal to the state government to set up district-level cells for the implementation of the Karnataka State Policy on Transgenders, 2017, informed the activist.