New Delhi: The Supreme Court today said gay sex between consenting adults remains a criminal offence, in a major setback for the largely closeted homosexual community in India.
The top court today said that the Delhi High court’s 2009 order decriminalising homosexuality is constitutionally unsustainable.
The Delhi High Court had decriminalised homosexuality while reading down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and ruled that sex between two consenting adults in private would not be an offence.
The high court order had been challenged by anti-gay rights activists, social and religious organisations .
Senior BJP leader BP Singhal, who died last year, had challenged the verdict calling it illegal, immoral and against the ethos of Indian culture. Religious organisations such as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Utkal Christian Council and Apostolic Churches Alliance also filed appeals against that verdict.
Look I’m gay and this hurts even in the diaspora, so I am praying for all of the LGBTQ+ people in India right now. May they stay safe and regain their protection soon. I will post more information as it comes.
-ZG