Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has reportedly filed a Supreme Court petition to challenge the Delhi High Court’s recent judgement legalising gay sex among the consenting adults.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev says homosexuality can be "treated by yoga, pranayam and other meditation techniques."
"...homosexual activities which are otherwise unnatural there is high risk of exposure of a large chunk of population to dangerous sexually transmitted disease inlcuding HIV/AIDS," said the appeal which was filed on Wednesday.
The guru, who reportedly has millions of followers across the country and holds mass yoga classes that attract up to 20,000 at a time, said homosexuality caused 'mental bankruptcy' and is an illness which could be treated.
"It can be treated like any other cogenital defect. Such tendencies can be treated by yoga, pranayam (breathing exercises) and other meditation techniques," he said in the petition.
It is not known how much these classes will cost but a source told Fridae that yoga classes run by Baba Ramdev to "cure" diabetes and cancer are priced upwards of Rs12,000 (US$250).
Although the recent landmark verdict legalised gay sex among consenting adults, which was earlier an offence under Section 377 of Indian Penal Code with punishment up to life imprisonment, the verdict had retained the penal provision for non consenting gay and acts involving male minors.
Astrologer Suresh Kumar Kaushal has separately filed an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking for the Delhi High Court decision to be overturned. “No one can imagine the consequences of the unnatural acts. Even animals don’t indulge in such activities,” his petition stated. He went on to say that if “such abnormality” is permitted “then tomorrow people might seek permission for having sex with animals.”
The Times of India has meanwhile reported that the supreme court has issued notices to the federal government and nonprofit Naz Foundation, which petitioned in 2001 for consensual gay sex to be legalised, as a result of Kaushal's petition.
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Well, what about those Gay Penguins that were recently widely reported, and their subsequent adoption of a baby penguin? Wait - can this guy arrange Penguin Yoga classes as well, to 'cure' them? Hmmm... That might ruffle a few feathers in the penguin world...
And I'm a bit alarmed that - sorry guys n gals - Our secret is out, about our so-obvious desire to have sex with animals. We'd have been okay, if it wasn't for one interfering Indian guru... ;-)
No more exorcisms to cure gays. Just yoga. Now I wonder if the Malaysian Islamic Council will remove the ban on yoga, since it apparently 'cures' homosexuality.
Y'know, this rhetoric sounds very much like the crap the Republicans spout in the states.
So, following that logic and timeline - Baba Ramdev in gay sex scandal in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
I suspect there may be evidence somewhere that meditation can be effective in relieving stress-related illnesses, but that's rather different from changing someone's entire sexual orientation.
Supreme court judges are supreme court judges because they are reputedly the best ones in the country. Given how weak the petitioner's arguments already sound, hope lies with the Supreme Court judges to do what the Delhi High Court judges have already done and to see through the weaknesses in the arguments advanced by homophobes.
As for his certainty that homosexuality can be 'treated', I believe that the onus would be on the petioner to provide that evidence. The Christianity based 'reparative' therapy has made similarly extravagant claims about being able to 'change' a same sex sexual orientation to a heterosexual one. But they only seemed to be have added to the numbers in the population of people who are celibate.
That's not a change of sexual orientation but merely refraining from acting on any same sex sexual attraction.
"Even animals don’t indulge in such activities,”
If the experience with homophobes from the Christian Right and others who use the same arguments is anything to go by, it is always THEY who begin with an assertion like in the above quote, purportedly to determine for the naturalness of homosexuality.
Then when we point to the countervailing evidence which consists of nothing less than filmed footage of same sex sexuality in the animal kingdom, they have typically shot back with "But WE are not animals"; we call this the "shifting goalpost" tactic in Singapore.
Well, if WE are not animals, then even heterosexuality has to be criminalized if we are now no longer allowed to benchmark human sexuality against animal sexuality.
Well, if that happens, then any animal whose permission is being sought for the purposes of sex would have to consent to sex, wouldn't they? And they also have to be adults in animal terms. (Ditto if people next seek the permission of corpes - their other favorite slippery slope argument - for sex.)
The Delhi High Court ruling is already clear that if the two requirements are not met in the case of two males, it would be considered rape; I believe that the ruling can be used as precedent in all other similar cases.
I have no quarrel with the DHC ruling on that count.
(The DHC ruling was binding only within Delhi, although courts in other Indian jurisdiction can use the DHC ruling as precedent.)
Gay people exist to play a role - to help reveal the human faults in people who think they are holier than thou. We are their targets, but with our own gracious behavior, we only become mirrors to let them see their own ugliness.
"It can be treated like any other cogenital defect. Such tendencies can be treated by yoga, pranayam (breathing exercises) and other meditation techniques,"
What makes him think that I would choose meditation over fornication?
How many people in this world practice yoga by own intuition that cause of healthier lifestyle? I could say no.... look at those who practice yoga all had problems, only practice yoga to relax their mind. If gay can be "cure" by yoga... Well... I'm gay too... I even practice yoga for 2 years already. But still I love to man tool as they are Hot and nice to be Lick Like An Ice-cream. Don't you guys agree?
So keep on talking...their comments are my entertainment. ;-)
"It can be treated like any other cogenital defect. Such tendencies can be treated by yoga, pranayam (breathing exercises) and other meditation techniques,"
(yawn) yet another piece of pesudoscience.
Sadly, as long as there are suckers, there will always be
con-artists. Enuf said.
"Focus on the Family's Learning Centre at Jurong Point was officially opened Saturday ...
The launch took the form of a demonstration of one of the brain fitness programmes, Play Attention. A young girl donned a modified bicycle helmet and got a killer whale to dip to the ocean bed to collect coins by the sheer power of her attention." (Christian Post, Singapore)
Despite what the article says, I'm hoping it was not a real killer whale ;)
"Focus on the Family's Learning Centre at Jurong Point was officially opened Saturday ...
The launch took the form of a demonstration of one of the brain fitness programmes, Play Attention. A young girl donned a modified bicycle helmet and got a killer whale to dip to the ocean bed to collect coins by the sheer power of her attention." (Christian Post, Singapore)
Despite what the article says, I'm hoping it was not a real killer whale ;)
wow is this yoga guru remotely suggesting that the next agenda people have is to legalize sexual acts between a consenting adult and animals of legal age? hmmm lets see, i wonder which animal people would pick having intercourse with...a goat or a cow or maybe even an elephant? what say you?
haha do they sincerely think that the humans-picking-which-animal-to-fuck scenario would actually follow? and they think we are the weird ones >_
Did I anything wrong in my Yoga practice???
And now I'm doing Nude-Yoga and nobody changed in my classes to be straight.
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