• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
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 (@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

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
Climate Crisis Triggers Spike in Lightning Strike Deaths in India
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
Covid-19 in Brazil
Featured

No Pandemic End in Sight With Raging Outbreaks in India, Brazil

by Staff Writer
May 1, 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

A supporter of nurses' strike and NHS holds a placard

UK Faces Fresh Mass Strikes as Wage Talks Derail

February 1, 2023
Israeli security forces in Jerusalem

Palestinian Gunman Kills 7 in East Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

January 30, 2023
The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 23, 2020

‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves Closest Ever to Midnight

January 25, 2023
Police work near the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California

California Lunar New Year Mass Shooter Dead, Motive Unclear: Police

January 23, 2023
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Race on To Replace Ardern as New Zealand Prime Minister

January 20, 2023
Pfizer logo and vaccines

Pfizer to Sell More Drugs at Cost to Poor Nations

January 18, 2023

Opinion

George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines

Eight Billion and Counting…

November 29, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests

Imagining a Free Iran

October 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin

How 18th Century International Law Clarifies the Situation in Ukraine

September 29, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Falling for Putin

September 15, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
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