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07/22/06-07/24/06

Indian AIDS group wants homosexuality decriminalized

India’s official HIV/AIDS control body announced on Wednesday that it is backing demands by gay rights groups that homosexuality be legalized across the country. The National AIDS Control Organization said that making gay sex a crime is forcing new infections underground and hampering its efforts to curb the spread of HIV.

The organization filed an affidavit in court supporting the demand to scrap Section 377 of the India Penal Code, which has declared homosexuality an offense for the past 145 years. In the affidavit, NACO cites a survey it conducted that found that 8% of the studied gay population in India is infected with HIV, compared with only 1% of the total population.

Many of India's gays and lesbians hide their sexual orientation because of harassment by authorities, but arrests are rare. (Sirius OutQ News)

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