The LGBTQ+ community in Madurai is living in fear after a poster was put up in the city asking the union government to amend section 377 of the IPC so that the death sentence can be given to people of the LGBTQ+ community.
Calling them "cultural terrorists", the poster was put up by the youth wing of the Indian National League, a Muslim party, a day after 49 people were killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando in the United States.
The poster calls for the “death sentence under section 377” and warns of terror against the community as homosexuality is “against Tamil culture”.
Speaking to The News Minute, Gopi Shankar, an intersex person and gender queer activist said, “This is not the first time this is happening. They put up the same poster when the Supreme Court recriminalized homosexuality.”
Shankar, who became the first intersex person to contest in the recently held Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu, said the LGBTQ+ community in Madurai feels threatened because the poster was put up outside American College a day after the Orlando attacks.
“It is impossible to register a complaint because the police says there is no provision in the law,” Shankar said.
Shankar said the LGBTQ+ community in Madurai is routinely targeted by the INL whose members distribute the Quran and homophobic pamphlets at spaces where gay people meet.
Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Madurai police commissioner said that he was not aware of the issue but said the matter would be investigated.