• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Monday, June 23, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

India’s Supreme Court Ends Colonial-Era Ban on Gay Sex

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
09/06/18
in World
LGBT parade in New Delhi

Members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community take part in a parade in New Delhi last November. Photo: Sajjad Hussain, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

India’s Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era ban on gay sex at the center of years of legal battles.

“The law had become a weapon for harassment for the LGBT community,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra said as he announced the landmark verdict.

Section 377 of the Indian penal code, enacted by British rulers in 1861, banned “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.”

Activists had been fighting the ban since the 1990s, suffering several court reverses before Thursday’s verdict which sparked celebrations among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups across the vast South Asian nation.

🌈🌈 GOOD NEWS: #LoveWins today in India! 🌈🌈

India's top court decriminalized consensual gay sex, overturning more than 150 years of anti-#LGBT legislation. pic.twitter.com/VaGQxHctH1

— Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) September 6, 2018

Members of the LGBT community hugged each other and cried as news of the verdict spread.

“I am speechless! It’s taken a long time to come but finally, I can say I am free and I have equal rights as others,” said Rama Vij, a college student who wore a rainbow scarf.

Gay sex has long been taboo in conservative India — particularly in rural areas where homophobia is widespread.

The Delhi High Court decriminalized gay sex in 2009, but the Supreme Court reinstated legal sanctions in 2014, after a successful appeal by religious groups.

According to official data, 2,187 cases under Section 377 were registered in 2016 under the category of “unnatural offenses”.

Seven people were convicted and 16 acquitted.

Share2Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Man holding up a colored LGBT flag
World

France Sets Up Embassy Fund to Defend LGBTQ Rights

by Staff Writer
September 19, 2023
Protesters stand with placards in front of the statue of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, central London, after a demonstration outside the US Embassy
Featured

Considering the Patience of Gandhi for These Troubled Times

by Stephen J. Lyons
August 5, 2022
India hijab ban
World

Protests Over Classroom Hijab Ban Grow in India

by Staff Writer
February 7, 2022
Around 2,500 people die in lightning strikes around India each year. Photo: Rakesh Bakshi/AFP/File
Environment

Climate Crisis Triggers Spike in Lightning Strike Deaths in India

by Staff Writer
September 3, 2021
Samuel Luiz
World

Two More Suspects Arrested Over Killing of Gay Man in Spain

by Staff Writer
July 9, 2021
Taj Mahal
Lifestyle

Taj Mahal Reopens as India Eases Pandemic Restrictions

by Staff Writer
June 16, 2021
Next Post
Jimmie Akesson, the head of the far-right Sweden Democrats

Swedish Artists Mobilize Against the Far-Right

Donald Trump

Key Quotes From Woodward Book, NYT Op-Ed Assailing Trump

Recommended

An Iranian protester

Iran’s Nuclear Program: From Its Origins to Today’s Dispute

June 23, 2025
Protesters and police clash during the “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California on June 14, 2025.

US Appeals Court Allows Trump Control of National Guard in LA

June 20, 2025
Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the sky over Beirut, Lebanon, on June 14, 2025. Iran launched multiple missiles toward Israeli targets, triggering interception attempts above several regional capitals, including Beirut.

Israel-Iran Conflict: Latest Developments

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
An Iranian walking in front of a wall painting of the Iranian flag in Tehran

How Much Damage Has Israel Inflicted on Iran’s Nuclear Program?

June 16, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post