By Nayha Kalia

India’s health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, set back the nation’s gay rights campaign and fight against HIV yesterday by referring to homosexuality as ‘unnatural’. A few days prior to making this statement at a conference on HIV/AIDS in Delhi, the city celebrated gay rights marking the landmark 2009 High Court verdict that overturned a British colonial law by decriminalising homosexuality.

However, there was a cautious undertone as many who were celebrating said that there was still a long way to go – and they were proven right. It seems that even in the top ranks of India’s administration prejudice against the LGBTI community is very much alive, and the prevalence of ignorant views long proven to be untrue. Not only is there scientific evidence to prove that homosexuality is not 'unnatural', homosexuals seem to have a prominent place in many historical and cultural texts in Indian and other ancient cultures. Azad’s remarks echoed a common notion in the conservative country that homosexuality is a western import. This raises concerns as to whether policies and laws will be able to ensure equality for the LGBTI community if policymakers themselves continue to harbour such prejudiced views.

Over the last decade gay people have been slowly gaining a degree of acceptance in parts of India, especially in its major cities. There are many bars which host gay nights while Bollywood films have begun to deal with gay issues. The last two years have also seen significant gay pride parades in New Delhi and other big cities such as Mumbai and Calcutta. However, homosexuality remains taboo in most of the country, and many gay people hide their sexual orientation from friends and families.

A recent countrywide survey by the CNN-IBN television news channel revealed that as many as 73 per cent of Indians believe homosexuality should be illegal. The poll, which was conducted in urban neighborhoods, showed that 83 per cent of respondents felt that homosexuality was not part of Indian culture whilst 90 per cent said they would not rent their houses to a gay or lesbian couple. Many are forcibly married off and those who can live together do not advertise their sexuality, for fear of being evicted by landlords or subjected to corruption by police who extort money from them with the threat of exposure. Even in recent pride parades attended by hundreds in Bangalore and Delhi, many marchers chose to wear masks to conceal their identity.

Anjali Gopalan, head of the NAZ Foundation, a rights group that works with HIV-positive people and promotes equal rights for homosexuals, told AP 'these comments help no cause. It's definitely not going to help in our fight against HIV’.

Acoording to the World Health Organisation approximately 2.5 million Indians have HIV and the marginalisation of gay people in India hinders the fight against the disease. Public stigmatisation has led to fewer men seeking tests or treatment.

Azad does not stand alone in his views, as many mainstream political and religious groups in India bitterly oppose homosexuality. Former MP B P Singhal from India’s main opposition Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party believes homosexuality to be an 'evil exported from the West' - a view echoed by many other parliamentarians. Father Dominic Emanuel of India's Catholic Bishop Council reacted angrily when the legal ban on gays was lifted saying that the church did not 'approve' of homosexual behaviour as it did not consider it 'natural, ethical or moral'.

Emily Gray from Amnesty International said, 'India has come a long way in the past decade in protecting its vulnerable populations, but they are engaging in double standards here. It would be a great shame if India’s recent progress on protecting the rights of sexual minorities was undermined by government induced hostility.'

Gay rights activists in India and beyond have reacted strongly to Azad’s statement, with many concerned that the nation's stand on the issue is unclear and the debate about homosexuality is once again blurred.  Questions are also being raised over why the health ministry supports the National AIDS Control Organisation set up in India with help from UN funding. This in itself is contradictory as the UN has long established a Human Rights Bills proclaiming discrimination on the basis of gender and sexuality is a human rights violation.

Has Azad's comments revealed the government’s true line on the issue of homosexuality, or just his personal prejudices? Only time will tell.

In a news conference held on Tuesday evening, Azad claimed his quotes had been taken out of context and that when he spoke of disease, he was referring to HIV/AIDS and not homosexuality.