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India, the second most populous nation in the world, has decriminalized homosexuality, becoming the 127th nation to do so.From NDTV:
In a revolutionary verdict, Delhi High Court on Thursday legalised gay sex among consenting adults.
The Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code as far as it criminalises gay sex among consenting adults is violation of fundamental rights, the high court said.
Any kind of discrimination is anti-thesis of right to equality, the court said, while allowing plea of gay rights activists for decriminalisation of homosexuality.
The Naz Foundation along with an activist group Voices Against 377 had filed a petition seeking decriminalisation of homosexuality.
Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code was created in 1861 by the British and outlaws what it calls any acts against the order of nature and the punishment for violating it, can be up to 10 years along with a fine.
Read the High Court's ruling. Read further analysis by Rex Wockner.
I'm reading some places the legalization is only valid in New Delhi, and not in the rest of vast India.
ReplyDeleteIn any event, since the 1861 ordinance bans "acts against the order of nature," wouldn't the 2009 scientific knowledge that homosexuality exists everywhere in nature make the ordinace moot anyway? :)