Transvestites in Mizoram, who enjoys considerable freedom in society in respect of sartorial choices, are caught in a bind after the powerful local church opposes the Delhi High Court verdict legalising consensual gay sex.
The transvestites, known locally as Tuais, sport the very latest in female hot couture which till now no one objected, though the church authorities sometimes cast a glare.
But the court verdict has snapped their fine line of tolerance, or so it seems. The leaders of the local Presbyterian Church and some social organisations have said they are seeking ways to invoke the executive order of the colonial British rulers issued in 1909 which criminalised homosexuality.
The order, issued by the superintendent of Lushai hills (now Mizoram), HWG Cole, on April 22, 1909 stipulated, "In future, all Tuais (transvestites), who are clearly of the male sex are to abandon wearing women's clothes and are to live as men and will pay revenue and do cooly (porter) works."
The Cole order further said, ''Village chiefs should report cases of any Tuai whose sex is doubtful for my orders. Chiefs are bound to report all cases of unnatural offences that come to their notice whether of not any complaint has been made to them. Failure to do this will be severely punished.''
Pakistani Man Sent To Mental Hospital After He Tries To Open Gay Club Ananya Panday Lends Voice To Riley In Inside Out 2 Hindi Version Pope Francis Used Vulgar Italian Word To Refer To LGBT People: Report Windows Computers Lead To 'Blue Screen Of Death' Due To CrowdStrike Error Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down Microsoft 'Blue Screen Of Death' Outage: Full List Of Services Hit In India Study Abroad: Top 10 Management Universities In United Kingdom "Reason Identified, Updates Released": India On Massive Microsoft Outage UPSC Cracks Down, Says Puja Khedkar Faked Identity, Parents' Name, Address Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.