Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad, Palakkad, Kerala 678623, INDIA.
Assistant Professor and Research Scientist, Ramalingaswami Centre on Equity & Social Determinants of Health, Public Health Foundation of India, Bengaluru, Karnataka, INDIA.
Indian J Med Ethics. 2023 Oct-Dec;VIII(4):296-302. doi: 10.20529/IJME.2023.024. Epub 2023 Mar 16.
Since the Delhi High Court judgement (2009), reading down IPC 377 that criminalised homosexuality, the Indian judiciary has been at the forefront of invoking constitutional morality to uphold LGBTQIA+ rights. In contrast, the mainstream mental health systems have failed to uphold human rights and protect LGBTQIA+ people ethically, except for a few position statements. Though the Supreme Court directed the mental health fraternity to exercise utmost sensitivity to LGBTQIA+ issues, they have not risen to the occasion. The absence of gender affirmative guidelines and failure to put in place punitive action against those practising conversion therapies set apart Indian mental health systems, in stark contrast to international mental health associations. Here, we review landmark judgments and the actions of professional mental health bodies regarding LGBTQIA+ rights in India, from 2009 to 2022 - especially those regarding conversion therapies and the discriminatory medical curriculum - to examine the deepening crisis of public health ethics.
自德里高等法院（2009 年）推翻将同性恋定罪的《印度刑法典》第 377 条以来，印度司法机构一直走在援引宪法道德以维护 LGBTQIA+权利的前列。相比之下，主流心理健康系统除了发表少数几项立场声明之外，未能在道德上维护 LGBTQIA+人群的人权。尽管最高法院指示心理健康界在处理 LGBTQIA+问题时要保持高度敏感，但他们并未抓住这一机会。缺乏性别肯定准则，也没有对实施转换疗法的人采取惩罚性行动，这使印度的心理健康系统有别于国际心理健康协会。在这里，我们回顾了 2009 年至 2022 年间，印度关于 LGBTQIA+权利的标志性判决和专业心理健康机构的行动，特别是那些关于转换疗法和歧视性医学课程的判决和行动，以审视公共卫生伦理日益加深的危机。
