India impact: US plans LGBT envoy

Washington: Two decisions of the Indian Supreme Court decisions on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenders reflects that the degree of their human rights protection is uncertain, a Bill moved in the US Senate has alleged.

Introduced in the Senate by Senator Ed Markey and supported by more than 24 others, it calls for appointment of a special envoy for human rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

“In December 2013, the Supreme Court of India reversed a lower court ruling and reinstated the criminalisation of homosexuality in the second most populous nation on Earth. In April 2014, India’s Supreme Court recognised transgender people as a third gender, improving the legal rights of transgender people in that country,” the Bill said.

“Given these two court decisions, the degree of human rights protections for LGBT persons in India is uncertain,” said the Bill.

Removing institutionalised discrimination and targeted persecution against LGBTs around the world is a critical step in the promotion of human rights and global health, it said. The Bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.