Tharoor's decriminalisation of homosexuality bill jeered out of LS

For the second time in three months, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's attempt to introduce a private member's bill to decriminalise homosexuality in India, failed in Parliament.

The bill was voted out by the Lok Sabha even before it was discussed as Congress MPs remained absent and BJP MPs jeered.

Tharoor tweeted: "So bigotry & homophobia on the BJP side met indifference & prejudice on the Opposition's.... Bitter disappointment."

Tharoor had attempted to introduce his bill last December, and after it was voted out then, he had been working to get the support of MPs from all parties, says The Telegraph. However, many of those MPs were not present in the Lok Sabha on Friday when Tharoor attempted to introduce the bill, even as the MPs present at the Lok Sabha seemed to be in no mood to take the bill seriously.

"There was a lot of jeering. These are our elected representatives. These people teasing Tharoor are so intolerant that they cannot even tolerate the thought of discussing homosexuality," said equal rights activist Harish Iyer, who had watched the proceedings on TV.