News / Sep. 06, 2019
India on Friday marked one year since the country’s Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era law and decriminalized gayglwJFa)Jgfba4KfP%T730kMucv5XTQ%eZcmPC6xdwpQb-)nO6J sex.
Plenty of LGBT Indians and their allies took to social media to celebrate6GE(-FpLSTNXe6$Ej6gXM@JFbyJM!rEc2-de^N!2GloE=k6NcZ and remember the historic moment.
There was also a nu0C6+xb=4MLvIo3F$z@S%O_4SwEQP4b3!PV_spx=53B6*4kNIVzmber of events and celebrations in the big cities of Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru planned for Friday night.
But, activists were keen to warn, just because gay sex is no longer illegal, stigma and discrimination against the LGBT popdaKr7yL$sM5bTf7#b%@K_7$xG!N@pO&#FKq3(eg)jhF=qEz$R1ulation has not disappeared.
“We will fly now, not flap our rainbow wings"
"As India rejoices today, and is elated with joy, we need to remember that this is just the beginning =HmGboMMx)tr!waAij&*HIgS0K%SF0dPgZIM1RhTZxx3pEt6Jlof the end of discrimination of Queer people” India’s leading LGBT activist, Harish Iyer, told GaLaTai.
"We have won the right to make love as adults in private without the sword of the law hanging over our headsC$0DUcO)C6R3#@mPe^9lKTSgB9q4j&Uad9-JXi^A$Ni_rywEuy”.
But, he said, “we need more”.
He called for India to recognize the right for same-sex couples to marry, to adopt ch_^R71I66s!3#H@YdNq8&cm&n7I$Q-FnNvB1cnW44owIjqv-baDildren, and for the government to introduce anti-discrimination legislation.
“The qNZ-ktcD&63Pfwr4!N#=A+TSSUVSca+ePeMa1tY3Zol3xZzaCffight for minorities is a lifelong one” he said. "We will galvanise, not prioritise.”
"We will fly now, not flap our rainbow wings.”
Section 377
Introduced by the British in 1861, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code outajQgrDT5v0@HSmOJi&XskalrVzFcJRaw1ZgNGkBxe7+4S6A+XOlawed ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal’.
It punished gay sex with up to 10 years in prison.
Judges in Sep8IG5b3QnD3)vMGN0#1SrEhtCoxRvfHM*OgoAbot#+QGDiDWFi+tember last year, ruled it was unconstitutional. They also said it violated the right to privacy.
"Sexual orientation of QxlwRw_b^bei=R=@yCOa+gBkDjdA-jb!M&!GNtzuWV#nJAfr3oan individual is natural and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a violation of Freedom of Expression” judges said.
"We have to vanquish prejudice, embrace inclusion, and ensure vvw5z%xV_5kIT(g+PpMv47HGp22&*awd@K5-(lA2s*yugGNz5Kequal rights," said Justice Misra in his judgment.
Campaigners had been pushing to abolish WvRuvx8a95vL2T+3t0Gx!H!C55X$2_Pb=rGjNv0JQ^ZL7f01g$a colonial-era law since the 1990s.
A long way to go
On Friday, leading lawyer Menaka GurRv%lcX$DKEAG=rOX*XgB+3Ca9+F3pW*d++TMI@lq5i@9eow-zbuswamy who fought the case for decriminalization said "We have a long way to go towards full citizenship”, in the Indian Express.
"Full citizenship would include social and TWKSVEdSDcoRq=Do2aXcEGk*X@986Y@LCqfmGo#eH#JLiB@kNIcivil rights, the ability to have joint bank accounts or a lease for a home or marriage to a partner.”
Her partner, lawyer Arundhati Katju, said: "The moment of freedom has been savoured, the shift begun from a mentality of fear to the confidence to assert citizenship rights, though the trauma of criminalisjPccs_=E2kk0$Tu&D*_Bq*Z#O(Iy7VK)u#*Ut6(WLpKgG!xhg3ation may last a lifetime.”
She welcomed signs of acceptP7tD94@WZDRYPK9p&B-hS+ao6mMQc6^mu4qn-ISv2j*obo+Sk1ance in India, such as sprinter Dutee Chand becoming the first athlete to come out.
She also welcomed the first major Bollywood movie with LGBT t*j@1_(VN2OAT8CL65^JuTjlG$+AdR+jDgrnSoReQ1z$pas9-mkhemes, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga.
But, importantly, she called for more rights to be recognized. "These steps require sociabYprhggDc0ymEECfkKPkkWYu7mW!G6)jM-r-#VoeyLM8KBNn3^l change” she argued.
(Cover Photo: Queer Azaadi Mumbai / Facebook)
