INDIA: Gay Sex To Remain Illegal

By a vote of 71-24, India’s Parliament today rejected a bill to decriminalize homosexual acts. The Hindustan Times reports:

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s private member’s bill to decriminalise gay sex was rejected in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with the former minister saying it was “surprising to see such intolerance”. Tharoor had proposed to amend Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises homosexual acts between consenting adults.

The Supreme Court had ruled in 2013 that only Parliament can change Section 377, which prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”, and is widely interpreted to refer to homosexual intercourse. A lower court had overturned this section of the code in 2009.

The Supreme Court’s ruling resulted in the largest LGBT protests ever seen in India.