Tag Archives: India

INDIA: Supreme Court Considers Legalizing Gay Sex

Buzzfeed reports: India could be on the brink of repealing a 157-year-old law that criminalizes gay sex in what is one of the world’s largest and longest-running LGBT legal battles. On a sweltering Tuesday afternoon in a courtroom so full people barely had space to turn around, a bench of five judges from India’s highest court began hearing arguments against …

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Junior Denies Profiting From Presidency: Nonsense

The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump Jr. said that any talk of his family profiting from his father’s presidency is “nonsense” as he embarked on a trip to India that has raised ethical concerns about using the name of the American president to promote international business ventures. The eldest son of President Donald Trump, who is in India to meet …

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REPORT: Trump Imitates Accent Of Indian PM

Buried in a report from the Washington Post: Senior administration officials said that the president has been known to affect an Indian accent and imitate Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in an Oval Office meeting last year told him, “Never has a country given so much away for so little in return” as the United States in Afghanistan. To …

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INDIA: Supreme Court To Review Gay Sex Ban

The Times Of India reports: Thanks to the right to privacy being deemed a fundamental right, the Supreme Court (SC) today agreed to reconsider its 2013 decision which criminalised gay sexual relations and said it will review Section 377 of Indian Penal Code that makes such relations a crime. The SC today also issued a notice to the Centre seeking …

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INDIA: Supreme Court Ruling On Privacy Opens Door To Overturn 2013 Ruling Recriminalizing Homosexuality

The Hindustan Times reports: The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday Indians have a constitutional right to privacy, a verdict that could have wide-reaching implications on broader civil rights issues, including homosexuality and prohibition. Experts have said the ‘right to privacy’ case would be a test of our democracy, with the possibility of citizens challenging laws based of individual rights. Privacy …

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LIVE VIDEO: Trump Speaks With Indian Prime Minister

CNN International reports: President Donald Trump looked to show unity with Narendra Modi when the Indian prime minister visited the White House on Monday, heralding the military cooperation between the United States and India in a move that thrusts the new President into the delicate world of India-Pakistan relations. The meeting between the off-the-cuff President and the prime minister who …

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VIRAL VIDEO: Touching Ad For Vicks Tells True Story Of Orphaned Indian Girl Adopted By Transgender Woman

Creativity reports: Procter & Gamble brand Vicks centers an emotive new Asian campaign around a mother and her adopted daughter — but it’s not until later on in the spot we discover the whole story. Created by Publicis Singapore predominantly for the Indian market, the ad is narrated by the daughter, Gayatri, who describes how was orphaned and then adopted. …

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Trump Speaks Hindi In New Campaign Ad [VIDEO]

The BBC reports: US presidential candidate Donald Trump is speaking a little bit of Hindi in his latest campaign video as he attempts to woo Indian-American voters. He is appropriating Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popular campaign slogan “Abki bar Modi sarkar” (“This time Modi government”). However, if the reaction of Indians in Delhi is anything to go by, Mr …

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INDIA: Thousand March At Mumbai Pride In Renewed Hopes That Gay Sex Will Be Decriminalized [VIDEO]

The Times Of India reports: Mumbai: The amiable Sindhi lady, waiting at Kemps Corner signal, carefully propped up her shopping bags against her leg, and trained her phone’s camera on the profusion of colour that had suddenly poured down the road. “It is for gay rights, no?” she asked a couple of passing reporters. “Yes, I read about it in …

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INDIA: Supreme Court Agrees To Reopen Case That Recriminalized Homosexuality, Sets Five Judge Panel

Huge news out of India this morning. Video below. The BBC reports: India’s Supreme Court has agreed to revisit a previous judgement that upheld a law criminalising gay sex. Three senior judges said the 2013 ruling would be re-examined by a larger bench of judges, in a move that has been welcomed by activists. The judges said that the issue …

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6 Pack Band – Hum Hain Happy [VIDEO]

1.2 million views in 48 hours. Pink News reports: India’s first trans pop band has released its début single. Hum Hain Happy is a Bollywood inspired cover of Pharrell Williams’ ridiculously catchy 2013 hit Happy. The band, who sing in Hinglish – a blend of Hindi and English – is comprised of six trans women from Mumbai, who were selected …

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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 …

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AFGHANISTAN: 7.5 Magnitude Quake Kills Dozens

USA Today reports: Scores of people have died after a magnitude 7.5. earthquake struck Afghanistan on Monday, causing deaths in neighboring Pakistan and tremors in northern India. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake was in the far northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, which borders Tajikistan and China. “Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially …

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INDIA: Charity Founded By Mother Teresa Ends Adoptions Over Divorced, Single, & Gay Parents

The Indian charity founded by Mother Teresa has ended its adoption services rather than comply with new rules which allow single and divorced parents to adopt. A spokesman for the charity told the press, “What if the single parent who we give our baby [to] turns out to be gay or lesbian? What security or moral upbringing will these children …

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INDIA: Fashion Ad Stars Lesbian Couple

Ad Week reports: An Indian clothing company is out with an ad that news reports are billing as the socially conservative country’s first to feature a lesbian couple. Anouk and Ogilvy & Mather Bangalore created the spot, in which the couple get ready to meet—and, the ad suggests, come out to—the parents of one of the women. Three and a …

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INDIA: Mother Places “Seeking Groom” Matrimonial Ad For Her Gay Activist Son

Via Gay Star News: An Indian mother has placed what may be the country’s first gay matrimonial ad on behalf of her LGBTI activist son Harish Iyer. Thousands of ads are posted in the weekly matrimonial sections of Indian newspapers. But the Times of India, the Hindustan Times and the DNA website all rejected Iyer’s ad. The Times of India …

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INDIA: Parents March In Solidarity With LGBT Children At Mumbai Pride 2015

DNA India reports: Bigger, bolder and more politically assertive. The gay pride march was all these things as Mumbai kept its annual date with the Rainbow on Saturday. The streets were bursting with colours and the energy was palpable. Among the nearly 5,000 that walked, a substantial chunk was formed by the parents of members of the LGBTQ community, who …

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INDIA: Hundreds Attend First Pride Event Since Homosexuality Was Recriminalized

Via Reuters: Hundreds of people danced, sang and cheered in a gay pride parade in India’s capital on Sunday, the first since the country’s top court reinstated a ban on gay sex in the world’s largest democracy. Multi-coloured balloons, masquerade masks and wigs, a huge rainbow flag and a St Bernard dog ushered in the seventh Delhi Queer Pride parade, …

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INDIA: Bollywood Star Might Face Charges For Promoting Homosexuality

Last month Bollywood actor and LGBT ally Aamir Khan hosted a nationally televised forum which examined the plights of gays and transgender people in a nation which recently saw homosexuality recriminalized. The show went viral on YouTube, where it was posted both in Hindi and with English subtitles. And here come the haters: A court in Chandigarh issued a legal …

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INDIA: Man Charged Under Anti-Gay Law After Wife Catches Him On Spycam

An 32 year-old Infosys engineer has charged under India’s infamous Section 377 after his wife used a spycam to catch him having sex with another man. The arrest has earned national headlines in India. Via the Times Of India: John’s marriage was arranged to Lisa (name changed) in November 2013, but the couple lived and worked apart for the first …

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