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Showing posts from April, 2023

Queer, trans persons 'testify': Marital rape, forced marriage, threat of disinheritance

  Even as the Supreme Court begins hearings in front of a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on “marriage equality”, and the Bar Council of India (BCI) requesting the Apex Court to  leave the issue  for “legislative consideration” i.e., to Parliament, as the hearing would be treated as being against the culture and social religious ethos, a civil society report has insisted that “queer and transgender persons ought to be given the right to have a chosen family not defined by marriage, birth or adoption alone.” Based on a closed door testimony of 31 persons – 23 of them Hindus – the  report , "Apnon ka Bahut Lagta Hai (Our Own Hurt Us the Most)”, published by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties PUCL and the National Network of LBI (Lesbian, Bisexual, Intersex) Women and Transpersons, explores the lives of queer and trans persons amidst continued invocation of ‘sanskar’ (morality) by the state in defence of heterosexual marriage and fami

Bournvita controversy snowballs after MNC threatens legal action against small fry

  Amidst raging controversy over the top children's product Bournvita's allegedly misleading information on claims of "improved brain activity, improved muscles, improved immune system and improved bone health", a spokesperson of the Cadbury's one of the most well-known brands has said, over the last seven decades it "has earned the trust of consumers in India." Insisting that by being a scientifically formulated product that "adheres to the highest quality standards and complies with all the laws of the land", Bournvita, "concerned by a recent unscientific video on social media that went abnormally viral", the spokesperson said, the video distorts facts and makes "false and negative inferences" about its "safety and efficacy". Stating that the video (now withdrawn) presenter's comments "are not based on science and were designed to drive anxiety and fear among our loyal consumers by misrepresenting the fa