A year ago today India recriminalised homosexuality
It’s exactly one year since India shocked the world by recriminalising same-sex relationships.
It overturned a 2009 New Delhi High Court decision that ruled the law unconstitutional.
The ruling caused outrage among LGBT activists and many of the county’s politicians.
The Supreme Court stated that only India’s Parliament could change the law, by deleting a section of the penal code dating back to the 19th century, thus ruling that the Delhi High Court had overstepped its powers with its decision five years ago.
Attempts by campaigners to reverse the Supreme Court ruling have so far failed.
Section 377 of India’s penal code bans “sex against the order of nature”, which is widely interpreted to mean gay sex, and can be punished with up to 10 years in jail. The rule dates back to the days of British colonial rule in India.
So far prosecutions under the law have remained rare – although seven men were arrested under suspicion of breaking Section 377 in Bangalore earlier this summer
A pride march in protest of the law took place in Delhi at the end of last month.
