Gay rights, Sectn 377: A timele of LGBT law India – will be legalised? | The Fancial Exprs

Contents:

• 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
• 377A: SGAPORE TO END BAN ON GAY SEX
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• GAY RIGHTS, SECTN 377: A TIMELE OF LGBT LAW INDIA – WILL BE LEGALISED?
• 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

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

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Before India legalised homosexual sex 2018, at least one billn people Asia lived wh some form of anti-LGBTQ legislatnFor much of the past two centuri, was illegal to be gay a vast swathe of the world - thanks to lonial today, lonial-era laws that ban homosexualy ntue to exist former Brish terrori cludg parts of Ai and is Asia where they have had a signifintly wispread impact. This is the regn where, before India legalised homosexual sex 2018, at least one billn people lived wh anti-LGBTQ n be traced back to one particular law first nceptualised India, and one man's missn to "mornise" the lony.

'Exotic, mystil Orient'Currently, is illegal to be gay around 69 untri, nearly two-thirds of which were unr some form of Brish ntrol at one pot of is no cince, acrdg to Enze Han and Joseph O'Mahoney, who wrote the book Brish Colonialism and the Crimalizatn of Han told the BBC that Brish lers troduced such laws bee of a "Victorian, Christian puranil ncept of sex". Whether you ternalise or not, affects you and everyone who lov you, " she told the ptn, The SG Boys is the first LGBTQ podst Sgapore, where gay sex is still illegalThe Covid panmic has exacerbated the problems, she recent example her group found was Sri Lanka, where the police were tasked to distribute emergency ratns while the untry was unr curfew - but some the LGBTQ muny were too aaid to e forward due to the untry's anti-sodomy law. The lack of rights is one reason they fd difficult to return, as well as the refal among some Sgaporeans cludg ernment misters to acknowledge that there is source, Olivia and Irene ChngImage ptn, Olivia (send om left) and Irene (far right) live Seattle wh their two dghters"I thk for me the biggt tratn om the fact that Sgaporeans thk everythg's okay - that as long as gay people keep quiet...

"The most mon thg we still see unsellg is fai wantg their gay sons to get married (to a woman), " said Ms Gopalan.

377A: SGAPORE TO END BAN ON GAY SEX

In Sgapore and Kenya, activists have ed the repeal legal arguments agast their own lonial anti-homosexualy centuri after was ed by the Brish as a legal blueprt, India once aga is seen as an example to follow - this time to strike down that very law that was exported across Asia. The Supreme Court, a landmark judgement on September 6, 2018, unanimoly stck down part of the Sectn 377 of the Indian Penal Co (IPC) which crimalised gay sex, sayg that vlated the nstutnal right to equaly and digny. The midset that the LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr) muny n be easily exploed as they have no one who r about them, that mdset has changed, ” he said.

She said even though the gay muny has found some rpe om beg targeted now that Sectn 377 has been stck down, crim and harassment agast trans folks and lbians still ntue unr the prent laws. Akhila Sivadas, the managg tstee and executive director of the Centre for Advocy and Rearch (CFAR), a non-prof anisatn said while the signifince of this lg to crimalise homosexualy nnot be rced, the procs of social cln and acceptance now assum even greater importance. 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. As far back as 400 BC, the Kama Sutra, said to be wrten by Indian philosopher Vatsyayana, scrib homosexual acts tail, cludg explic stctns on how to perform such acts.

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

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? It clud punishments such as lashgs for engagg homosexual IndiaThe first dified legislatn on homosexualy India was Sectn 377 of the Indian Penal Co. This extends to gay, lbian, bisexual, and trans relatnships, as well as acts like btialy and sodomy.

Pattanaik add that Sectn 377 and other homosexualy laws India were "products of mds that were eply fluenced by the 'sex is s' stance of the Christian Bible.

Simultaneoly, the rise of HIV AIDS, largely the gay muny, mand a better outreach programme to lim the spread of the disease. 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.

GAY RIGHTS, SECTN 377: A TIMELE OF LGBT LAW INDIA – WILL BE LEGALISED?

In 2013, Surh Kohal and Anr vs Naz Foundatn and Others, the SC reversed the Delhi HC's cisn to crimalise homosexualy, statg that " was up to the Centre to legislate on the issue. "This cisn would lead to protts across the untry, wh the Aam Aadmi Party, the Indian Natnal Congrs, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), makg the crimalisatn of homosexualy a part of their electn manifto the 2014 general Assembly to 2018, and a five-judge SC bench, which clud the then-Chief Jtice Dipak Misra, would pass a historic orr. Media ptn, Watch: The moment Sgaporeans learn gay sex ban will endSgapore will repeal a law that bans gay sex, effectively makg legal to be homosexual the cisn, announced by Prime Mister Lee Hsien Loong on natnal TV, after years of fierce activists Sgapore have hailed the move as "a w for humany" cy-state is known for s nservative valu, but recent years an creasg number of people have lled for the lonial-era 377A law to be abolished.

Sgapore is the latt place Asia to move on LGBT rights, after India, Taiwan and ernment's prev stance was to keep 377A - which bans sex between men - but also promised not to enforce the law an effort to appease both on Sunday night, Mr Lee said they would abolish the law as he believed "this is the right thg to do, and somethg that most Sgaporeans will accept" noted that "gay people are now better accepted" and scrappg 377A would brg the untry's laws le wh "current social mor, and I hope, provi some relief to gay Sgaporeans".

'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

This would effectively make harr for gay marriage to be said Sgapore remas a tradnal society wh many keen on matag fay and social activists lled this "disappotg" and warned that would only further entrench discrimatn society. Though the law technilly crimalis sex between men, is effectively seen as a ban on has not been actively enforced recent years, a thrivg and creasgly visible LGBT scene has veloped Sgapore, cludg gay LGBT activists have long lled for 377A to be scrapped, sayg the law perpetuat social stigma agast gay people, go agast Sgapore's nstutn which forbids discrimatn, and has trickled down to fluence other aspects of life.

For stance, any ntent emed as "promotg homosexualy" n be banned om broadst Sgapore, and TV shows and movi have the past been law is also at odds wh Sgapore's image as an open, diverse global fancial hub and multatnal pani based the state have said would hr their efforts to attract many Sgapore still support retag 377A, recent years the ll for s aboln has grown stronger, wh surveys showg growg support for LGBT the same time both LGBT activists and nservativ - many of whom e om relig groups - have mobilised on both sis of the issue.