National Meeting against IPC 377

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

The venue for National Meeting Against IPC 377 to be held on 12th and

13th of December, 2004 in Bangalore has been fixed at

URBAN HEALTH RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

16th Cross, Kodandaramapuram, Malleswaram, Bangalore - 560003

Ph. 080 - 23365469, 23318675, Fax: 080 - 23318676

The meeting would start at 10 a.m. in the morning of 12th. All

participants are requested to arrive the night before or early in the

mroning of 12th.

Please inform us at the earliest about your participation, arrival and

departure and if you want us to book your accomodation.

A copy of the invitation letter is pasted below. Kindly circulate the

invitation to all groups and networks widely.

Thank You

Mamu

Dear friend(s)

Sec 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), criminalizes 'carnal intercourse

against the order of nature' (many Indian Judges consider all sexual

acts other than penile-vaginal sex as unnatural) and is used by the

police widely to threaten/blackmail/extort money from kothis,

doubledeckers, homosexual/bisexual men and hijras. Sexuality minorities

from the poor backgrounds and male/transgender sex-workers are worst

affected by IPC 377, as they have to use public spaces a lot of time.

There are judicial decisions that have criminalized sexual activities

like fellatio (oral stimulation of penis), cunnilingus (oral stimulation

of vagina) and anal sex. The punishment for these 'criminal activities'

can be anything between ten years to life imprisonment.

Though both sexuality minorities and heterosexuals engage in anal and

oral sex, only sexuality minorities are perceived to be engaging in

these 'deviant' sexual practices by the moralistic police and society.

In Indian democracy, where every citizen is promised equal rights and

non-discrimination, IPC 377 obstructs sexuality rights and right to

life/liberty/privacy of every individual and the attainment of human

rights of marginalized sexuality minorities.

Various groups, organisations and individuals working for the rights of

sexuality minorities, sex-workers, human rights have been raising their

voices against IPC 377 in different parts of India for a few years now.

There have been legal interventions, public protests and innumerable

discussions around IPC 377. Needless to say the process has not been a

smooth one and has faced opposition and antagonism from the state to

the public due to the largely queerphobic attitude of our society, its

systems and their keepers. The latest blow to this process has come

from Delhi High Court, when the court dismissed a petition on IPC 377

(requesting the court to read it down to exclude consensual sexual acts

between adults in private) filed by Lawyers Collective on behalf of Naz

Foundation (India) Trust. Same court has dismissed the petition to

review their judgement.

We feel there is a need to coordinate all our efforts all over India in

order to build public opinion, only which can eventually yield pressure

on the system to repeal this anti-human rights law. The process will

also help in changing societal attitudes towards sexuality minorities.

In this regard, we are organising a national meeting to discuss future

strategies for coordinated efforts against 377 in Bangalore on the 12th

and 13th of December, 2004.

We invite everyone to be present in this meeting and lend your support,

ideas and suggestions so that we can all together design a nation-wide

plan to abolish IPC 377.

Friends, please confirm your participation at the earliest so that we

can organise your stay and take care of other logistical details for

the meeting. As we have limited funds, we regret that we will not be

able to provide travel, stay and food expenses for everyone. However, we

will be able to provide second class train fare and accomodation to a

limited number of participants. The stay and food should cost around Rs.

400-500 per person. Please, once again, confirm your participation at

the earliest.

Please circulate this invitation widely.

In Solidarity,

SANGAMA along with Alternative Law Forum (Bangalore), Bharosa (Lucknow),

FIRM (Trivandrum), Lawyers Collective, Naz Foundation (India) Trust,

Parma/Vikalp (Baroda), PUCL-Karnataka, Sahodaran (Chennai), Saksham

(Rajamundry, AP), Sangram (Sangli), SIAAP (Tamilnadu), Snegyitham

(Trichy), SWAM (Chennai), WINS (Tirupati)

Contact Persons: Mamu and Manohar

Phone: 09880223470 (Mamu), 09880223460 (Manohar), 080 22868680/121

(SANGAMA)

Email: advocacy@...

Address: SANGAMA, Flat 13, Royal Park Apartments, 34 Park Road, Tasker

Town, Bangalore - 560051.