India has elected LGBTQ+ politician Menaka Guruswamy to its upper house of Parliament. DW.com reports Guruswamy was instrumental in the decriminalization of same-sex relations in India and is the first out member of the Indian Parliament.
As a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India, Guruswamy has ample experience in litigation. In 2018, she argued for India’s historical case decriminalizing same-sex relations. In the case, the court struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code prohibiting “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” After winning the case, she revealed her relationship with another court advocate – Arundhati Katuju, according to LGBTQ Nation.
Equaldex indicates though same-sex relations have been legalized in India, the country has not legalized same-sex marriage, and has not enshrined protections against certain types of discrimination for LGBTQ+ people in federal law. Despite this, the country does offer official recognition for non-binary people and access to gender affirming care.
Guruswamy said the Constitution’s values of “equality, fraternity and non-discrimination” had guided her life and work and that she hoped to carry those ideals into parliament while representing the people of India’s West Bengal state. “I look forward to representing the interests of the people of West Bengal and to serve ‘We the People’ of India.”
