MANILA, December 25, 2013: GALANG adds its voice to the condemnation of Indian Supreme Court ruling and offers support to the organizers of the Global Day of Rage

GALANG is outraged by the Indian Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutionality of IPC Section 377, recriminalizing homosexuality and likening lesbians, gays, and transgendered people to thieves, rapists, and murderers. Not only is the ruling a political setback for LGBTs; the economic, legal, and social repercussions for LGBTs and their families are devastating.

Lesbians and gays are at risk now of being institutionalized or incarcerated for the “crime” of loving, making homes, raising children, building lives, and having sex, with partners of their choosing. It’s barbaric to deny lesbians and gays the same opportunities to endeavor for happiness to which every human being is entitled – and shameful to do so when so much of the world is moving beyond that kind of social order.

Our hearts and prayers are with our LGBT sisters and brothers in India, who may be persecuted, assaulted, or imprisoned as a consequence of the court’s decision. We stand firm with them in the knowledge that love and kinship are our birthright as human beings. There is nothing more worth fighting for.

We also give our wholehearted support to the activists working right now to bring global attention to the issue, and to force the Indian Supreme Court to take responsibility for the review of Section 377, instead of passing it off to Parliament. Fighting for LGBT rights is fighting for human rights. And GALANG together with LGBT and human rights activists around the world, vows to keep the pressure on India’s government to recognize LGBTs as humans and hold them fully accountable to the consequences of this grievous, dehumanizing legislation.

GALANG Philippines is a lesbian-initiated, lesbian-run feminist human rights organization that works with urban poor LBTs who struggle with the multiple oppressions of class, poverty, sex, gender identity/expression, and sexual orientation.