India's first openly gay politician joins the oldest party in the country
Apr 9, 2019, 21:40 IST
- Harish Iyer is the first openly gay person to become a politician.
- Iyer on Tuesday announced that he is joining the Indian National Congress.
- India's Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality in 2018 allowing Iyer's move to politics today
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"I have officially joined the Congress and look forward to working with the Mumbai Congress team in weeding out homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia and the politics of hate," Harish Iyer announced on Twitter.
Iyer has become the first openly gay politician in India. He has been working proactively as an Indian Equal Rights Activists and has presented his opinion on number of issues including promoting rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer (LGBTQ+) community, children, women, animals and survivors of child sexual abuse. He is also organising the gay pride parade in India to fight the rights of LGBTQ community.
Iyer tweeted "So, sometimes we cannot afford sitting on the fence. Sometimes, you need to take a plunge into things with people who are working against the intent of equality and stand against the very fabric of secularism that our nation is blessed with. We need to strive to protect it.”
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