The Indian Government Declined To Appoint An Openly Homosexual Judge.

According to the Supreme Court of India, a prominent attorney who is homosexual and has a foreign partner was denied appointment as a judge by the Indian government.

With a Supreme Court decision, New Delhi only decriminalized homosexual sex in 2018, but there is strong anti-gay sentiment across the 1.4 billion-person country, which is predominantly traditional and religious.

The urban middle class’ attitudes against homosexuality have slightly improved, but many gay Indians still run the danger of being rejected by their family, friends, or coworkers if they come out.

Saurabh Kirpal, an openly homosexual candidate for nomination as a high court judge in Delhi, was unanimously recommended for appointment by a Supreme Court panel that included the chief justice in November.

However, the government rejected his application, claiming that the law ministry and country’s foreign intelligence agency had objections due to his sexual orientation and “intimate connection” with a Swiss citizen, the panel said on the court’s website.

In cases handled by lower courts, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejected efforts to legally recognize same-sex partnerships.

The panel said late on Thursday that Kirpal was nominated on the basis of his qualifications, applauding his candor on his sexual orientation and asserting that to deny him the position would be against “constitutionally recognized rights.”

Kirpal’s “ardent commitment and emotional dedication to the cause of LGBT rights,” the statement claims, was brought up by India’s law minister, raising the “possibility of bias and prejudice.”