As Chennai marked Pride Month celebrations on 29 June 2025, a viral video featuring VCK leader and Chidambaram MP Thol. Thirumavalavan has stirred controversy online. The undated clip, lasting around two minutes, shows Thirumavalavan appearing to describe homosexuality particularly same-sex relationships between men as “perversion” rather than a form of love.
While the full speech is currently unavailable and its context cannot be independently verified, the circulating excerpt has drawn sharp criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates and members of the public.
In the video, a law student also named Thirumavalavan is introduced with a warm welcome. He poses a question to the MP, referencing a previous speech in which Thirumavalavan had discussed how ancient Tamil culture symbolized love through the fusion of consonants and vowels body and life forming the word kaadhal (love). The student asked, “You have mentioned in a speech that the ancient Tamil society defined love as ‘க் + அ’ becoming ‘க’. That’s how it became ‘kaadhal’ (love). ‘க்’ is a consonant (body), and ‘அ’ is a vowel (life). Just as a consonant and a vowel combine to form a ‘uyir-mei’ (a character with both body and life), a man and a woman unite, leading to reproduction, and that’s how a society forms. Now, in these days, men fall in love with men, and women fall in love with women. How do we view that? Does that also come under the same definition within Tamil society?”
Responding with a sarcastic tone, MP Thirumavalavan replied, “In English, they call it perversion. If a man falls in love with another man, it’s perversion. It’s something contrary to nature.”
He then went on to describe love as an indescribable feeling, “Love, you see, cannot be defined. It’s a feeling beyond definitions. You can call it gentle; you can call it powerful. You can call it useful; you can call it terrifying. You can call it necessary; you can call it unnecessary. You can define it however you want, because it’s a feeling common to all living beings. This isn’t just common to humanity. If there’s one common characteristic among all living creatures, that characteristic is called ‘love’ in a single word.”
👀 Did Thol Thirumavalavan just define "homosexuality" as "perversion"? pic.twitter.com/AoWwRnVui9
— Saikiran Kannan | 赛基兰坎南 (@saikirankannan) June 30, 2025
The video has since sparked debate online, with many questioning the MP’s remarks in the context of evolving societal views on gender and sexuality particularly as the LGBTQ+ community continues to fight for recognition and navigate real-world challenges and discrimination.
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