Tag Archives: India

This weekend popular Indian chat show host Aamir Khan broadcast an examination of the issues LGBT Indians face in a country whose highest court recently recriminalized homosexuality. The first segment (in Hindi) is below, but you’ll probably want to watch the non-embeddable version here, which is subtitled in English. Khan, who appears to be an ally, opened the show by …

The right wing Hindu nationalist party that supported India’s recent recriminalization of homosexuality has swept to power in a landslide election. Via the Independent: India’s ruling Congress party admitted defeat this morning as the Narendra Modi wave washed over the country in a scale few had predicted. Initial counting in the country’s general election pointed to a massive victory for …

1.7M views already. Quite the unusual PSA.

Via press release: The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday launched the first ever Bollywood-style UN music video at a press conference in Mumbai to promote its Free & Equal campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. The two-and-a-half minute video, called “The Welcome”, stars actress and former Miss India Celina Jaitly. Jaitly, …

India’s Supreme Court announced today that it will reconsider its recent ruling which upheld anti-sodomy legislation enacted under British rule. J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed: This is LGBTI rights’ advocates last chance to toss out the decision, which was a harsh blow after a 12-year litigation process. In January, a two judge panel (which included one of the judges …

In what is being hailed as a landmark ruling, today the Indian Supreme Court recognized transgender people as a third gender. Via the BBC: “It is the right of every human being to choose their gender,” it said in granting rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female. It ordered the government to provide transgender people with …

The Independent reports: When [in 2009] the Delhi High Court suspended the draconian Section 377 of the Indian penal code which dated from the days of British rule, India’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community thought there was no turning back. Five years on the euphoria has gone. In December, the country’s highest court overturned the lower court’s ruling, once …

Yesterday’s Dilbert comic strip outed the long-running Indian intern character Asok in panels that criticized India’s recent recriminaliztion of homosexuality. As several JMG readers noted, the gay-themed strip did not appear in some newspapers around the country, where older strips were rerun. The Sandusky Register yesterday wrote about the substitution: Today and Saturday, the syndicate distributing “Dilbert” — in an …

Today’s Dilbert comic strip mocks India’s recent recriminalization of homosexuality via the strip’s Indian intern character Asok, who first appeared in 1996 and is now, apparently, openly gay. (Tipped by JMG reader Mike)

Unswayed by the Indian Supreme Court’s refusal last month to reconsider its recriminalization of homosexuality, a record crowd turned out for Mumbai’s gay pride events this weekend. In its seventh edition, Mumbai’s Gay Pride got bigger and bolder, attracting crowds from across the globe. Colourful costumes, innovative headgear and a multitude of balloons in rainbow colours only added to the …

The Indian Supreme Court today refused to reconsider its December decision to reinstate the criminalization of homosexuality. Many had expected the Court to do so after major Indian and international leaders denounced the ruling. Judges dismissed petitions from the government and rights activists who say the order was wrong. The Supreme Court judgement last month overturned a landmark 2009 Delhi …

“Anti-gay laws in countries like Uganda, Nigeria, India, and Russia are not being created in a vacuum. I would argue that they are also not in direct response to indigenous gay rights movements. These countries are enacting laws as a response to gay activists’ intolerance towards traditional views on marriage and sexuality, and their attempts to silence the speech and …

Via First Post Bollywood: The controversy around Section 377 of IPC raised a lot of questions about gay people, gay sex and homophobia. What is this whole ‘gay’ thing, anyway, said a large swathe of Indian society. And why is everyone making such a big fuss about it? Actor Imran Khan has taken it upon himself to disabuse these people …

“We walked around Bangalore and asked people what they thought about homosexuality.” Bangalore is India’s third largest city and has about the same population as New York City.

The Indian government yesterday petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to reinstate the criminalization of homosexuality. The government asked the court to review its order saying it believed it “violated the principle of equality”. There has been outrage over the ruling seen as a huge blow to gay rights. There have been street protests and many activists and …

“When given the same choice the Supreme Court of the United States had in Lawrence vs. Texas, the Indian Court did the right thing. India chose to protect society at large rather than give in to a vocal minority of homosexual advocates. The Texas case laid the groundwork for the invalidation of traditional marriage by a number of courts subsequent …

In what was titled as a “Global Day Of Rage,” yesterday LGBT Indians and their allies demonstrated against last week’s Supreme Court ruling that recriminalized homosexuality. Supporting demonstrations were held in major cities around the world. The clips below are from New Delhi and Bangalore. Buzzfeed has posted a massive compilation of photos from cities in many nations.

On Sunday there will be protests of the Indian Supreme Court ruling in major cities around the world. The list of cities so far: Sydney, Toronto, Cambridge, London, Delhi, Ann Arbor, Chennai.  More locations will be added at this link, at which you can find details for each city.

From the New York Times editorial board: The court’s statement inviting the Legislature to amend the law is disingenuous. Given the fractious nature of India’s Parliament, the conservative views of many of its members, and the political stakes in the run-up to general elections next spring, the Legislature is unlikely to take up this issue on its own. Prime Minister …