Is It Illegal To Be Gay In India?

Contents:

• THE NATNS WHERE 'S STILL CRIMAL TO BE GAY (AS INDIA MARKS AN AWKWARD ANNIVERSARY)
• HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
• MAP SHOWS WHERE IT’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY – 30 YEARS SCE WHO DECLASSIFIED HOMOSEXUALY AS DISEASE
• IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY IN INDIA?
• WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY? THE UNTRI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS STILL AGAST THE LAW
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

THE NATNS WHERE 'S STILL CRIMAL TO BE GAY (AS INDIA MARKS AN AWKWARD ANNIVERSARY)

Tuday marks 10 years sce India crimalised gay sex, but 's unlikely the tone will be 's bee the 2009 lower urt lg was short-lived; overturned wh a few years by the natn's Supreme 2012 judgment effectively re-tablished the Brish lonial-era law Sectn 377, which saw gay sex punished by up to 10 years took another six years - September 2018 - before India's top urt fally brought the natn le wh the majory of the world and stck down the there are still dozens of untri where same-sex relatnships are the world is still crimal to be gay? The Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA) listed the followg natns s 2019 map of crimalisatn of nsensual same-sex sexual acts between shas of yellow ( facto crimalisatn) through to brown (effective or possible ath penalty) show the natns which still outlaw gay relatnships 2019. Cred: ILGASome untri have varyg levels of punishments bee of regnal differenc Facto crimalisatn: 2Iraq, EgyptUp to eight years imprisonment: 31Moroc, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Guea, Senegal, Namibia, Botswana*, Zimbabwe, Ethpia, Errea, Somalia, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwa, Comoros, Mri, Eswati, Bhutan, Sgapore, Papua New Guea, Samoa, Cook Islands10 years to life prison: 26Jamai, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kts and Nevis, Domi, St Vcent and Grenad, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Banglash, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bnei, Soloman Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, TongaEffective ath penalty: 6Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Sdi Arabia, Yemen, IranPossible ath penalty: 5Mrania, UAE, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gambia*Sce the list was published Botswana scrapped s law, banng gay sex June.

"Our inty n be challenged bee of the motherland, " she told ITV Loi is CEO of Gaysians, which overseas a UK alliance of more than 20 Brish Asian LGBT+ said even those not born India still "hold onto whatever piece you have of your homeland", so remembers the 2012 reversg of the crimalisatn as "terrible, horrifyg (and) heartbreakg that you're not accepted for beg who you are.

"India has moved on so many ways but diaspora muni haven't, " she law changed 2018 after a petn of gay people who said they were livg fear of beg harassed and prosecuted by police. "A timele of India's difficult relatnship wh homosexualy 1861: Brish India troduc sectn 377, based on 16th century law lled the Buggery Act.

HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY

2015: A member of the Indian Natnal Congrs party, Shashi Tharoor, troduc a bill to crimalise homosexualy and is voted down twice. Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Kamala Harris has been a vol supporter of LGBTQ rightsUS Vice-Print Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three Ain untri - Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia - has drawn cricism over her support for LGBTQ Ghana, a speech llg for "all people be treated equally" she appeared to cricise a bill before the untry's parliament which crimalis advocy for gay rights and propos jail terms for those that intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, or untry's Speaker Alban Bagb later lled her remarks "unmocratic" and urged lawmakers not to be "timidated by any person" Tanzania, a former mister spoke agast US support for LGBTQ rights ahead of the vis and Zambia some opposn policians have threatened to hold is homosexualy still outlawed?

In the same month, the high urt Barbados stck out laws that crimalised gay July last year, the urts Antigua and Barbuda clared a law crimalisg same-sex acts between nsentg adults Febary 2021, Angola's Print Joao Louren signed to law a revised penal to allow same-sex relatnships and ban discrimatn on the basis of sexual 2020, Gabon reversed a law that had crimalised homosexualy and ma gay sex punishable wh six months prison and a large fe.

Mozambique and the Seychell have also scrapped anti-homosexualy laws recent there are untri where existg laws outlawg homosexualy have been tightened, cludg Nigeria and 's parliament recently passed a law to crack down on homosexual activi, promptg wispread source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Campaign agast LGBTQ rights some Ain untri has tensified recent weeksAnd some untri, efforts to get the laws removed have May 2019, the high urt Kenya upheld laws crimalisg homosexual acts. And many plac, breakg the laws uld be punishable by long prison of the 53 untri the Commonwealth - a loose associatn of untri most of them former Brish loni - 29 have laws that crimalise homosexualy. Although the origal Brish laws applied only to men, untri that crimalise homosexualy today also have penalti for women who have sex wh Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (Ilga) monors the progrs of laws relatg to homosexualy around the says the ath penalty is the legally prcribed punishment for same-sex sexual acts Bnei, Iran, Mrania, Sdi Arabia, Yemen and some northern stat of five untri - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, and the Uned Arab Emirat - there is no legal clary and the ath penalty uld be source, AFPImage ptn, An Indian gay rights activist protts agast a urt lg 2013 upholdg a law which crimalis gay repealed the ath penalty for nsensual same-sex sexual acts observers note that the risk of prosecutn some plac is mimal.

MAP SHOWS WHERE IT’S ILLEGAL TO BE GAY – 30 YEARS SCE WHO DECLASSIFIED HOMOSEXUALY AS DISEASE

For example, a 2017 report on Jamai by the UK Home Office said that Jamai was regard as a homophobic society, but that the "thori do not actively seek to prosecute LGBT persons". Through our own viss and those of the handful of LGBTQ+ tour operators who lead trips there, India is hospable and welg to all visors – cludg gay or lbian upl or groups. We terviewed several gay tour operators cludg Bryan Herb om Zoom Vatns (listed as a rource below), Robert Sharp om Out Adventur, and Zach Mos om HE Travel, who have equently traveled to India, and they all report feelg credibly wele.

It's still illegal to be LGBT+ 70 untri, and you uld be given the ath penalty 12, as the world marks 30 years sce “homosexualy” was classified as a disease. Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), May 17 marks the day the World Health Organisatn (WHO) classified “homosexualy” as a mental disorr.

As the world reach 30 years sce beg gay was no longer an ternatnally signated disease, a map by an ternatnal LGBT anizatn shows remas illegal to be gay 70 untri. The map by the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn shows that only 65% of those livg UN untri around the world n now be, legally, nsensual same-sex relatnships.

IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY IN INDIA?

Dpe wispread nmnatn and scientific evince that gay nversn therapy do not work, the cel torture is only illegal four untri across the world.

Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissner for Human Rights, has regnised the "crease homophobic and transphobic rhetoric" durg the panmic. However, is a socially nservative untry and the suatn wh LGBT rights India has been changg que rapidly, wh progrs and setbacks happeng every few years; so ’s unrstandable that gay travellers might wonr whether ’s the bt statn for them to choose.

WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY? THE UNTRI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS STILL AGAST THE LAW

In a landmark judgement on 6 September 2018, India’s Supreme Court led to crimalize gay sex, somethg LGBT activists had been battlg for for 20 years. This is excellent news for gay travellers, although they should be aware that might take a b longer for attus to tch up. Until September 2018 those ught engagg homosexual sex uld be punished by up to 10 years prison unr Sectn 377 of the penal , a haner om the Brish Empire Victorian tim.

Although was not often ed to arrt, the law was regularly ed to timidate and reprs the gay muny and LGBT rights India were mimal.

The historic cisn September 2018 clud not only crimalisatn but also an apology to the gay muny and was weled by the LGBT muny India and beyond. Luckily, there are activists and mpaigners fightg for more visibily and acceptance for the gay muny and for more tn schools. Even before the change law, gay travellers uld feel nfint that a trip to India would be safe and enjoyable, if they were aware of their surroundgs and were reful about public displays of affectn.

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

As many non-gay-iendly untri, tourists and travellers tend to be exempt om the same prsur as lols (although, havg said that, the Pk Rupee tourism market has been growg for a while). In any se, the hope is that now gay sex has been crimalized, full acceptance and prehensive LGBT rights India – pl all the fun eedoms attached – are sure to follow.