Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition criticises Thol. Thirumavalavan’s remarks on same-sex love

The Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition (TNRC), a network of groups from the sexual and gender minority communities, on Wednesday (July 2, 2025) urged Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder and Chidambaram MP Thol. Thirumavalavan to “reflect on the immense harm caused by his statement” against the LGBTQIA+ community recently.

In a video clip that has gone viral, a youngster, during an event, seeks Mr. Thirumavalavan’s views on same-sex love, to which he responds that it is a form of “perversion”.

The TNRC, in a statement, said that “modern science and medicine have established, beyond doubt, that homosexuality is neither unnatural nor a disorder.”

“In 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from the Interntational Classification of Disorders (ICD) and the understanding of homosexuality as a natural variation of human sexuality has been reiterated by the Indian Psychiatric Society and other professional medical associations. Further, Indian jurisprudence, dating back to the Delhi High Court (2009) and Supreme Court (2018), has reiterated that queer desire in natural and is not criminal so long as the individuals involved are adults engaged in consensual acts,” the statement said.

The statement further said, “Given this context, it is truly disappointing that individuals such as Thiruma, whose life’s mission is rooted in eradicating social injustice, hold such inaccurate, outdated, and damaging views of lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and other queer persons. Equating the love and relationships of these and other sexual minority individuals to ‘perversion’ reinforces stigma, fuels discrimination, and directly contributes to the violence and alienation faced by queer people in Tamil Nadu and across India.”

The TNRC urged Mr. Thirumavalavan to make efforts to examine his biases, and “lead VCK by example towards a more inclusive and equitable world view.”