News / Sep. 06, 2019
India on Friday marked one year since the country’s6WQY79$+bCe7N4lLrsKaZT)YOevVTwRObzZ3B%daFi8+UKug5D Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era law and decriminalized gay sex.
Plenty of LGBT Indians and their allies took to social media to celebrate and reme84p1xMFuO+%IrcNQouwN&eEAh-D1IOW)Wz%uA5CwK8WmU$lBs4mber the historic moment.
There was also a number of events and celebrations in the big ycsJPgVy!d^(h1m5UWI+@cI%0aBQ1u0JMp7Zblx2!OoV^)O9@icities 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 oIZjs4Mw4(yba9bruzbNpqiS1+Q2m3VdZt7Z!_#^AlCFzOp)o(LGBT population 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 of the end oG!D7D@L^NA&2mtJ+gU#zIut%iVj)O-V=APy8)^6M+DtqQEPTXjf 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 ofEPonue9BU&Vno%_GTAsygCX^uTl6KQ*4_xrEZ4e+*yp#J-tp#A the law hanging over our heads”.
But, he said, “we need more”.
He called for India to recognize the right for same-sex couples to marry, ti!t5+OK+EOCQ6qK_hkMq=-ewCqaU)GC-QKwJLfhJNmJrzTnTX_o adopt children, and for the government to introduce anti-discrimination legislation.
“The fight for minoriQyp2pPW2oC#HAz#I=9&pjXCJ70U7y0x_HfLZM7OjIBMaR_CSqPties is a lifelong one” he said. "We will galvanise, not prioritise.”
"We will fly now, not flap our rainbow wings.”
Section 377
IntrlTLbb_=f(wL!g#mXFgSf9qy=d5S9Ina!5i3+$=WX6Ruht+JR3Ooduced by the British in 1861, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code outlawed ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal’.
It punished gay sex with up to 10 years in prison.
Judges in September last year, ruled it was unconstitutional. hCVvxi97*PIAfXBlkA1e1mT!z_lG&HYq4cSIQ8WlX7(#cFCZeKThey also said it violated the right to privacy.
"Sexual orientation of an individual is natural and discrimination on the basis of sexuas+=A)@8u@Rdgq_&-1OxjH$u@BYastuNG@JZo!EJUHd-zFmt-e2l orientation is a violation of Freedom of Expression” judges said.
"We have to vanquish prejudice, embrace inclusion, and ensure equal rights," said Justice Misra in his judgmeyTm!IAuUW!MISZn-0gaw3qPLYR=)ZZ-JOTX7VFsd#aD_P%CJ@znt.
Campaigners had been pushing to abolish a coloUmYviwhG_Fd+8ett5o86Wa-vwEzrE*$Q55DMHn9^=dXvle41ojnial-era law since the 1990s.
A long way to go
On Friday, leading lawyer Menaka Guruswamy who fought the case for decriminalization said "We have a long w(ko(7YorZtrg4RcThvdHaC2fMC%Xt+sl-_PkW24Nf$*if4Rdkpay to go towards full citizenship”, in the Indian Express.
"Full citizenship would include social and civil rights, the ability to have joint bank accounts or a lease for a home or marriage-5zZKM7DaqQjoPqNF23KzQ62RddZZse6uFEtPxb3AHg^P@09$- to a partner.”
Her partner, lawyer Arundhati Katju, said: "The moment of freedom has been savoured, the shift begun from h6a3WrUrSa^3(Yu=8qV_QpW&8cexdr59MYS$4=Fdit=ATyjWt(a mentality of fear to the confidence to assert citizenship rights, though the trauma of criminalisation may last a lifetime.”
She welcomfDyqflT8Wi2)CgOg3)zGEO4D&M7PF#qG9iD+C@E9e!9x70Q^^xed signs of acceptance in India, such as sprinter Dutee Chand becoming the first athlete to come out.
She also welcomed the first major Bollywood moBZds$h#FxFqEcZ3rb5Gpy%$zf5oM__co@u_q6r_qulmqo46xcgvie with LGBT themes, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga.
But, imtvYxR1TzWj^uFfVUrf82=KBmmv3p(rJkzlsTxHwv!zrlBz^lqeportantly, she called for more rights to be recognized. "These steps require social change” she argued.
(Cover Photo: Queer Azaadi Mumbai / Facebook)
