There is potential good news coming from India, regarding gay rights.
According to the New York Times the Supreme Court of India has ordered a review on Monday of Section 377, a colonial-era law reinstated in 2013 that criminalizes consensual sex between men.
This comes after August’s earlier decision that stated all Indian citizens have a constitutional right to privacy. This decision featured heavily regarding the argument to de-criminalize consensual gay sex.
Introduced in 1861, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code imposes a 10-year prison sentence on “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal.” It most often applies to sex between men, but also extends to oral and non-vaginal sex of any kind. According to the privacy judgment, about 200 people have been prosecuted under Section 377.
Although some parts of India have grown over time to become more accepting of homosexuality there still remains politicians that do not welcome such a change. Of course they rely on the old “Being gay is OK as long as they don’t flaunt it” argument, put forth by Subramanian Swamy a member of Parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“If you flaunt it,” he said, referring to homosexuality, “it has to be punished.”
There is no guarantee that this action will be positive, but hopefully the decision which is expected to come out sometime early this year, will be positive.