Gay upl India ask Supreme Court to legalise same-sex marriage | Rters

Contents:

• GAY UPL INDIA ASK SUPREME COURT TO LEGALISE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• EXPLAED | HOW WE GOT HERE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF LGBT RIGHTS AND LAWS INDIAFROM ANCIENT INDIA TO THE 21ST CENTURY, THE LGBT MUNY HAS FOUND REPRENTATN, FACED OPPRSN MANY FORMS.VISHNU GOPATHPUBLISHED: 06 SEP 2022, 12:39 PM ISTEXPLAERS6 M READISHARE ON THE QUT DAILY
• IN INDIA, GAY, LBIAN AND TRANS PEOPLE N FACE WCHDOCTORS, EXORCISTS AND 'RRECTIVE RAPE'

GAY UPL INDIA ASK SUPREME COURT TO LEGALISE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Media ptn, "I'm fally glad I n say I'm not a crimal this untry anymore"In a historic cisn, India's Supreme Court has led that gay sex is no longer a crimal offence.The lg overturns a 2013 judgement that upheld a lonial-era law, known as sectn 377, unr which gay sex is tegorised as an "unnatural offence".The urt has now led discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn is a fundamental vlatn of rights.Campaigners outsi the urt cheered and some broke down tears as the lg was hand down.Although public opn India's biggt ci has been favour of scrappg the law, there remas strong opposn among relig groups and nservative ral muni.But this lg, om the top urt, is the fal say the matter and reprents a huge victory for India's LGBT muny.One activist outsi the urt told the BBC: "I hadn't e out to my parents until now.

But today, I gus I have."What have the judg said?Thursday's cisn was livered by a five-judge bench head by India's outgog chief jtice Dipak Misra and was unanimo.Readg out the judgement, he said: "Crimalisg rnal terurse is irratnal, arbrary and maniftly unnstutnal."Another judge, Indu Malhotra, said she believed "history ow an apology" to LGBT people for ostracisg them.Jtice DY Chandrachud said the state had no right to ntrol the private liv of LGBT muny members and that the nial of the right to sexual orientatn was the same as nyg the right to privacy.The lg effectively allows gay sex among nsentg adults private.What is sectn 377?It is a 157-year-old lonial-era law which crimalis certa sexual acts as "unnatural offenc" that are punishable by a 10-year jail term.Image source, RtersImage ptn, A joyful reactn to the lg at an NGO MumbaiThe law punish, s own words, "rnal terurse agast the orr of nature wh any man, woman or animal".While the statute crimalis all anal and oral sex, has largely affected same-sex relatnships.Human rights groups say police have ed the statute to harass and abe members of the LGBT muny. It is not surprisg then that mpaigners are scribg the verdict as a "new dawn for personal liberty".But a largely nservative India, where lears of all religns have nsistently opposed gay sex, will still be a while before attus change and the muny fds full acceptance.But laws almost always play an important role changg mdsets, and by regnisg the muny's right to love, the Supreme Court has rtored the digny nied to them for a very long time.How did we get to this pot?It's been a tortuo route.

To view this ntent choose ‘accept and ntue’.The BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s.How have polil parti reacted?The erng BJP party has said would leave the cisn to the Supreme Court.However, one of s members said he was disappoted wh the verdict.Subramanian Swamy, known for makg provotive ments, said: "It uld give rise to an crease the number of HIV s."Meanwhile, the ma opposn Congrs party has weled the lg, sayg they "hope this is the begng of a more equal and clive society".The UN has also weled the lg, sayg "sexual orientatn and genr exprsn form an tegral part of an dividual's inty the world over".What else was said the lg?The urt said other aspects of sectn 377 alg wh unnatural sex wh animals and children would rema force.The judg also explicly said that they only led on the nstutnal validy of sectn 377 and were not lookg at terms of other rights such as those related to marriage or herance.It remas too early to say what this will translate to the longer term.Author and mentator Sandip Roy told the BBC that although the lg was a e for celebratn, there were still hurdl to overe, and a need for anti-discrimatn laws."I thk we would be foolish to thk that this is the end of the fight," he said.Where is homosexualy illegal?The 2017 report om the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (Ilga) lists 72 untri and terrori where same-sex relatnships are still crimalised, although that clus India before s latt lg.Most of them are Ai, the Middle East and other parts of south Asia.The report said homosexualy uld still rult the ath penalty eight natns.More on this story. A powerful right-wg figure has exprsed support for LGBTQ rights Sce there is no legal regnn of same-sex marriage, gay upl whose fai threaten them wh vlence bee they are opposed to gay relatnships have no protectn unr the law.

EXPLAED | HOW WE GOT HERE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF LGBT RIGHTS AND LAWS INDIAFROM ANCIENT INDIA TO THE 21ST CENTURY, THE LGBT MUNY HAS FOUND REPRENTATN, FACED OPPRSN MANY FORMS.VISHNU GOPATHPUBLISHED: 06 SEP 2022, 12:39 PM ISTEXPLAERS6 M READISHARE ON THE QUT DAILY

Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the most powerful Hdu natnalist anizatn, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, said an terview that gay people are a part of Indian society and have the right to live the way they want to. REUTERS/Anhree FadnavisSummarySupreme Court to hear gay marriage se JanuaryFour gay upl say nied basic fundamental rightsModi ernment has opposed same-sex marriageCase seen as key tt for Modi ernmentNEW DELHI, Dec 19 (Rters) - Four gay upl have asked India's Supreme Court to regnise same-sex marriag, settg the stage for a legal face-off wh Prime Mister Narendra Modi's ernment which has the past refed to legalise such a historic verdict 2018, India's top urt crimalised homosexualy by scrappg a lonial-era ban on gay sex. Dpe the 2018 lg, members of India's lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) muny pla about a lack of acceptance and discrimatn agast gay people Indian activists say that while 2018 lg affirmed their nstutnal rights, they are still prived of legal backg for same-sex marriag, a basic right enjoyed by heterosexual married three Supreme Court filgs seen by Rters, the upl say that whout legal regnn of beg married, they are nied rights such as those lked to medil nsent, pensns, adoptn or even simpler thgs like club memberships for upl.

"In tth, they have no rights at all, " the filg four gay upl want a Supreme Court lg that modifi or terprets laws a way that allows same-genr marriag, the urt filgs is a sensive subject the socially nservative untry of 1.

4 billn people, where speakg openly about homosexualy is taboo for pleas have already triggered a bate on prime-time TV news and generated edorials newspapers whether the time has e for the world's largt mocracy to jo roughly three dozen untri where such marriag are Uned Stat this month approved legislatn that provis feral regnn to same-sex marriag a bid to further safeguard gay Indian Supreme Court s, which follow many lawsus filed lower urts where no cisn was reached, will be a key tt for Modi's Hdu natnalist ernment and his Monday, a feral lawmaker om Modi's party appealed to lleagu the upper hoe of parliament to oppose legal regnn of marriage between same-sex upl. "Backg the upl are high-profile lawyers cludg one of India's former Attorney Generals and another unsel named Srabh Kirpal, who is openly gay and an terview last month acced Modi's ernment of layg his elevatn as a state judge due to his sexual and Modi's office did not rpond to a requt for ment on those remarks.

IN INDIA, GAY, LBIAN AND TRANS PEOPLE N FACE WCHDOCTORS, EXORCISTS AND 'RRECTIVE RAPE'

NEW DELHI (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - India’s LGBT+ muny on Friday celebrated the first anniversary of a historic judgment that crimalized gay sex, but mpaigners warned major hurdl lay ahead wh same-sex marriage still “many years” ’s Supreme Court last year stck down Sectn 377, a lonial-era law that outlawed same-sex relatns, sparkg hop of equaly for the untry’s lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr populatn.

Hundreds of stunts wh rabows pated on their fac scend on a New Delhi llege on Friday and others held parti major Indian ci to memorate the overturng of the ban on gay even those beatg dms and dancg warned that the fight for equal rights, cludg same-sex marriage and servg the ary, had not been won.

5 ln gay rights activists say the te figure uld be far higher and want thori to spread awarens about gay rights to prevent last year’s verdict om fadg to lg elevated the ncerns of LGBT+ people but has not brought about acceptance, said Simran, a trans-woman who heads the LGBT+ rights group Impulse New Delhi and only one name. Not a chance, ” Simran are llg for anti-discrimatory laws to help LGBT people ga accs to jobs, healthre, tn and onle petn llg for genr-ntral legislatn, cludg a rape law that would also protect men, transgenr and tersex people has gaed more than 9, 000 has been phg for more rights for transgenr people but the ernment has remaed largely silent on gay opposn Congrs party on Friday posted a short vio on Twter that showed a pilatn of pro-LGBT+ ments ma by s lears the Social Jtice and Empowerment Mistry and the Natnal Human Rights Commissn did not immediately rpond to a requt for Julka, a 20-year-old stunt at the rally Delhi, said the scrappg of Sectn 377 embolned her to e out.

Jt 30 years before this, the same India that now allows people to take lovers of the same sex, was an India that persecuted openly gay people and an India where if you me out as gay or queer, you uld lose your, how did the untry make this transn?

But today, on the anniversary of India's own LGBT rights day, we walk you through a brief history of LGBT laws Ancient & Medieval IndiaBefore the imposn of lonial-era laws unr Brish le, India had s own texts, which tailed the practice of homosexualy and same-sex terurse.

The Manmri, for example, tailed punishments like shavg the head of a woman or cuttg off her fgers, as punishment for engagg lbian om the texts, the walls of ancient archecture are the send source of rmatn about ancient India's thoughts on sexualy, wrote thor and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik a 2008 article tled 'Did Homosexualy exist ancient India? The two together would lay the groundwork for the legal chang of the next 20 Dawn of a New Millennium for LGBT RightsIndian LGBT activists holdg an LGBT rights 2009, the Delhi High Court, Naz Foundatn vs NCT of Delhi, led that Sectn 377, which crimalised same-sex relatnships, was unnstutnal, and stck the law down, crimalisg homosexualy India for the first time.

Dog so was also found to fall foul of the right to equal treatment (Article 14) and the prohibn of discrimatn (Article 15) verdict, which was hailed as a victory for LGBT rights, was challenged by several anti-gay rights groups on relig, polil, and social grounds, who claimed that the right to privacy did not clu the right to m an offence, and that crimalisg homosexualy would affect the stutn of marriage.