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India upholds law making homosexuality a crime
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India’s Supreme Court yesterday struck down a 2009 lower court decision to decriminalize homosexuality, dealing a blow to gay activists who had fought for years for the chance to live openly in India’s deeply conservative society.
The judges said only lawmakers and not the courts could change the colonial-era law.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community across India reacted to the surprise decision with defiance.
“We cannot be forced back into the closet. We are not backing off from our fight against discrimination,” said Gautam Bhan, an activist who had petitioned the court.
After the ruling, dozens of activists outside the court began crying and hugging each other in consolation.
“This is a very sad day for us, we are back to square one in our fight for the democratic rights of the gay community,” said Ashok Row Kavi of the activist group Humsafar Trust.
Lawyers and supporters vowed to continue pressing for removal of the law, which they say encourages discrimination, even if it is rarely invoked.
“We feel very let down,” said lawyer Anand Grover, who had argued the case on behalf of the advocacy group NAZ Foundation. “But our fight is not over and we will continue to fight for the constitutional right.”
The law, dating back to the 1860s, when Britain ruled over South Asia, states that “whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” can be punished by up to 10 years in prison.
The 2009 New Delhi High Court ruling, which said the law violated fundamental human rights, infuriated conservatives and religious groups who say homosexuality represents a threat to Indian culture.
In a rare alliance, the groups — including the All India Muslim Law Board, Christian groups and Hindu leaders — argued that gay sex was unnatural and the law should remain.
Amod Kanth, head of the Prayas organization for children’s welfare, one of India’s largest civic groups, said banning homosexuality was key to ensuring children’s normal development and protecting their rights to family.
“Only a man and a woman constitute a family and contribute for the holistic development of a child, which is not possible without a father and a mother,” Kanth told the Press Trust of India news agency.
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