Indian Judge Says Gay Sex Not An 'Aberration' But Insults Bisexuality

As the Supreme Court in India decides on whether a colonial-era ban on homosexuality should be repealed, one of the judges asserted that gay sex "is not an aberration, but a variation."

Justice Indu Malhotra sits on the five-judge bench that will decide whether to drop the ban on homosexuality, which was reinstated in 2013 after four years of decriminalization. At a hearing on Thursday, Malhotra noted that gay people in India live in fear, Reuters reports via The New York Times.While some of Malhotra's words were encouraging, they also demonstrated a lack of knowledge on other subjects.

"Because of family pressures and societal pressures, they are forced to marry the opposite sex and it leads to bisexuality and other mental trauma," Malhotra said.

Indian law prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal," and compares homosexuality to bestiality. The punishment for engaging in homosexual intercourse is up to 10 years in jail.

"This law has created utter chaos," said Ashok Desai, a lawyer petitioning the government to scrap the 157-year-old law. He also argued that the LGBT experience is inherent to Indian culture, referencing a transgender character in the famous Indian poem "Mahabharata."

Opposing lawmaker Subramanian Swamy, who comes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, stated in the midst of the hearings that homosexuality is unnatural and against Hindu nationalism.

The court will resume hearings on Tuesday.