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Menaka Guruswamy Becomes India’s First Openly Queer MP With Rajya Sabha Oath

She signals a push for tougher scrutiny of bills to protect core constitutional rights.

Overview

  • Guruswamy, who took the Rajya Sabha oath on Monday, entered Parliament unopposed from West Bengal after a Trinamool Congress nomination.
  • In her first interview as MP, she said Parliament must not let bills be “bulldozed” and warned that a weaker legislature points to a weaker democracy.
  • Her recent party-linked legal work includes challenging Enforcement Directorate raids on TMC’s consultant I-PAC and opposing West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, a fast-tracked voter list review she called hasty.
  • A senior Supreme Court advocate, she helped win the 2018 ruling that decriminalised consensual same‑sex relations under Section 377 and later publicly identified as queer alongside fellow lawyer Arundhati Katju.
  • Upper-house seats can be filled without a contest when no rival candidate files, and her arrival adds LGBTQ+ visibility in national lawmaking that could shape debates on rights and legislative safeguards.