India’s LGBT community celebrates historic legalisation of gay sex
Tearful festivities unfold in cities across the nation as Supreme Court strikes down 157-year-old colonial-era law used to hold back gay rights
Members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups held tearful celebrations in cities across the South Asian nation of 1.25 billion people as the historic verdict was read out.
“The law had become a weapon for harassment for the LGBT community,” said chief justice Dipak Misra as he quashed the cornerstone of Section 377, a law introduced by British rulers in 1861.
“Any discrimination on the basis of sexuality amounts to a violation of fundamental rights,” he added in the ruling, which added India to a list of more than 120 countries where homosexuality is decriminalised.
While India’s law only legalises sexual acts between adults, gay activists have hailed the verdict as a major boost in the deeply conservative country where religious groups have fiercely opposed any liberalisation of sexual morality.