New Delhi, May 20 (Reuters): A 57-year-old mother has placed India's first gay matrimonial advertisement, seeking a groom for her son, but it was not an easy task in a country where homosexuality is illegal, her son said today.
Mumbai resident Padma Iyer placed the advertisement in a daily newspaper on Tuesday, mimicking the style of traditional matrimonials.
"Seeking 25-40, well-placed, animal-loving, vegetarian GROOM for my SON (36, 5'11") who works with an NGO," said the advertisement in Mid-Day.
Reports about the ad went viral on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, with many users commending Iyer for breaking taboos.
Homosexuality was re-criminalised in India in 2013 in a decision by the Supreme Court that shocked human rights groups and prompted the UN to call it a "significant step backwards for India".
Under a 155-year-old British colonial law called Section 377,"carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" - widely interpreted to refer to gay sex - is punishable by up to 10 years in jail.
Iyer's son, Harish, a human rights activist, said the matrimonial was prompted by the normal wish any mother has to see her son settle down. He has already received six responses to the ad.
However, he added, it was a challenge to find a newspaper to publish it.
In an opinion piece, Iyer said he was angry when the ad was rejected by two English newspapers over legal issues.
Another English daily did not respond to his email to place the ad on behalf on his mother, he added.
"I feel it's time we accept that we are biased and try and change our outlook," he wrote on the NDTV website.
Activists say that since the ban on gay sex was reinstated 17 months ago, there has been a surge in reports of gangs, as well as police, intimidating, harassing, raping, blackmailing and extorting money from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
There are no official figures on the number of cases. Most go unreported, say activists, as victims are too scared to report crimes to the police fearing Section 377 will be used against them.
