Medical curriculum labelling lesbianism as ‘sexual offence’ withdrawn amid uproar

New Delhi: The top medical education authority withdrew its new curriculum in its entirety following a backlash at the reintroduction of regressive language in the forensic medicine module for medical students pursuing undergraduate degrees.

“The above guidelines will be revised and uploaded in due course,” an official notification states. Considering that the new MBBS session is probably going to start in October, this is crucial.

The Indian Express has previously reported that "sodomy and lesbianism" were once again included in the list of unnatural sexual offences under the updated forensic medicine curriculum. Topics like the significance of the hymen, the definition of virginity and defloration, as well as its validity and medico-legal significance, were also reintroduced.

Based on the advice of an expert panel appointed by the Madras High Court, the National Medical Commission eliminated all of them in 2022 to make the curriculum LGBTQI+ friendly.

The 2022 modification clearly distinguished consensual sexual relations between LGBT people and crimes like incest and bestiality. Additionally, the virginity module taught students how to inform the courts, should the court mandate it, of the tests' faulty basis.

Better awareness of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation is not specifically included in the now-withdrawn curriculum's psychiatric module modifications, but they did not entirely regress. Unlike the prior curriculum, it made no mention of "gender identity disorder.”