A majority of doctors and allied medical professionals believe that homosexuality is a disorder that will become more prevalent if same-sex marriages are recognised, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said, according to PTI.
The organisation, Samvardhinee Nyas, carried out a survey of 318 persons affiliated to eight branches of medicine ranging from Ayurveda to modern medicine.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is hearing a batch of petitions seeking to legalise same-sex marriages. The Union government has opposed the petitions and urged the court to let Parliament decide on the subject.
The Samvardhinee Nyas has supported the Centre’s stand before the Supreme Court. It has submitted the findings of its suvey to the bench.
The organisation claims that over 60% medical professionals said that homosexuality was a disorder, The Indian Express reported. “Over 67 per cent of the doctors in their response to the survey questionnaire felt that homosexual parents cannot raise their offspring properly,” it told the court.
The survey found that 84.27% of the respondents did not favour allowing same-sex marriages. The organisation further stated that 23.58% of doctors said that they had “treated” such persons and “now their life is just like normal people”.
The RSS affiliate said that 83% of the respondents “confirmed transmission of sexual disease in homosexual relations”. The survey shows that legalising same-sex marriages “may promote more disorder in the society rather than curing patients and bringing them to normalcy”, it contended.
However, on January 9, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said that members of the LGBTQ community deserve to have their own private and social space.
“LGBT/transgender issues are not new issues,” Bhagwat had said in an interview with the Organiser, the English language mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh. “They have always been there. Without much hullabaloo, we have found a way, with a humane approach, to provide them social acceptance, bearing in mind they are also human beings having inalienable right to live.”
Centre’s stand
The Narendra Modi government has argued in the court that same-sex marriages are not compatible with the Indian idea of family and that the demands for their legal recognition represent “urban elitist views for the purpose of social acceptance”. The government has also contended that making laws on marriage was the prerogative of the legislature and the judiciary should not intervene in the matter.
On Wednesday, the Centre proposed to form a committee to address concerns of the LGBTQIA+ community. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said that the committee will be headed by a cabinet secretary. It will examine whether certain legal rights can be granted to same-sex couples without legalising their union.
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