Friday July 21, 2006

India Government AIDS Body Urges Legalization of Sodomy

By Gudrun Schultz

NEW DELHI, India, July 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – India’s National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) has joined the efforts of activist organizations to decriminalize homosexual behaviour, saying the ban on homosexual activity is driving HIV/AIDS infections underground.

NACO, the regulatory government body responsible for efforts to control the spread of the infection, filed a statement in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday in support of a petition put forth by a local AIDS group that asks that the law against homosexual activity be lifted.

UNAID and other non-governmental organizations are also backing the decriminalization of homosexuality in India, suggesting that HIV/AIDS infection rates will increase as long as laws prohibit the gay lifestyle and drive men to risky sexual behaviour. India has the second highest infection rate in the world, with over five million people carrying the virus.

HIV/AIDS infection rates in Western nations which have decriminalized homosexuality, however, suggest the opposite may occur. Research has shown that infection rates are highest among members of the homosexual community in countries where homosexual activity is legal and educational material on “safe-sex” practices is readily available.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Washington reported in 2005 that HIV infection rates among homosexual men increased eight percent during one year alone, from 2003-2004.

In Canada, a 2004 report from Toronto showed a dramatic increase in HIV infection rates among the homosexual community, up 49% since 1988.

The Indian government has resisted efforts to decriminalize homosexual activity, saying the social climate of the country “does not favour” legalization.

See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

UN Tells India to Decriminalize Homosexual Sex to Fight AIDS
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jan/06011307.html

Indian Government Fights Court Effort to Legalize Sodomy
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/dec/05120805.html

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/06072103.html

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