Tag Archives: India

“The world has moved on. It is fast changing. Perceptions have changed. Attitudes have changed. Law does not and cannot remain static. Whenever necessary, the Supreme Court has reflected changed perceptions of the law and has struck outmoded laws down. They did so when striking down rent control laws as socially irrelevant. They also did it by breathing fresh life …

In the wake of yesterday’s shocking recriminalization of homosexuality by the Indian Supreme Court, politicians there today vowed to repeal the law legislatively. “We will have to change the law. If the Supreme Court has upheld that law, then we will certainly have to take firm steps,” Thursday. “Change has to be made fast, and any delay cannot take place.” …

“It is repellent that extremist religious opposition worldwide is such a corrosive impediment to basic human rights. The groundbreaking Delhi high court decision would have stood had religious opponents not attempted, now successfully, to roll it back. Even the Indian government refused to defend the law in court. We are unfortunately in a global culture war with many more challenges …

Business Insider takes note: The news that India has re-criminalized homosexual acts has come as a blow to the worldwide LGBT movement. Roughly 16% of the world’s total population — 1.2 billion people — live in the South Asian state. But India isn’t alone in considering homosexual acts a crime. According to the 2013 report from the International Lesbian, Gay, …

More photos of the protests are at Vocativ.  See my full report on today’s shocking Supreme Court ruling.

Right here. (Tipped by JMG reader Justin)

The Indian LGBT rights group Orinam has issued a reaction to the today’s shameful ruling by the Indian Supreme Court. We are deeply disappointed at the decision of the Supreme Court in Suresh Kumar Kaushal v. Naz Foundation. The decision by overturning the historic Delhi High Court judgment which recognized that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) persons are full citizens …

This is beyond shocking. Homosexuality is once again a crime in India after the Supreme Court today reversed a 2009 ruling by the Delhi High Court and declared that only the national legislature can legalize gay sex. Via Reuters: India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated a ban on gay sex in the world’s largest democracy, following a four-year period of …

New Delhi’s gay pride parade was Sunday and while the event was small by Western standards, hundreds took to the streets to demand LGBT rights. The demonstrators urged an end to all forms of discrimination against gay men, lesbians and transgender people in India, four years after a colonial-era law that criminalised gay sex was overturned. One group of activists …

Details.

(Via Towleroad)

Legendary sitar player and Beatles collaborator Ravi Shankar has died at the age of 92. Labeled “the godfather of world music” by George Harrison, Shankar helped millions of classical, jazz and rock lovers discover the centuries-old traditions of Indian music. He also pioneered the concept of the rock benefit with the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh. To later generations, he was …

Reuters reports that Norway’s Princess Mette-Marit secretly traveled to India to care for the newborn twins borne by the surrogate mother hired by a gay palace staffer who was unable to get a visa to go himself. Armed with a diplomatic passport that granted her immediate access, the future queen jumped on a plane in late October when the employee, …

The Times Of India reports that a small but exuberant crowd demonstrated this weekend at New Delhi’s fifth gay pride event. In spite of the prying eyes and shocked stares, the LGBT community in the capital came out once again in rainbow colours on Sunday to reinforce their identities. Almost three years after the judiciary decriminalized consensual sex among homosexuals, …

From India’s Hindustani Times: Strange as it may sound, but it’s the gay guys who are scoring over straight men in some cases when it comes to marriage worthiness. Sick of lecherous, two-timing, aggressive men who tromp over their feeling, some women are opting for a ‘safer option’ — marrying gay men, who are believed to be more sensitive and …

After over a month of hearing objections from the more than 40 anti-gay and religious groups, the Indian Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on a lower court’s decriminalization of homosexuality, meaning that a decision may have been reached but will not be revealed for several months. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya reserved its …

Clip description: “I’ve a right to love and live with dignity”, cry out the Indian gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community who have been made invisible and pushed underground by a draconian law Sec 377 that criminalized homosexuality till recently. The film BREAKING FREE strings together anguished voices of those who were tortured, blackmailed and indicted by this law; alongwith …

As India’s Supreme Court reconsiders a 2009 ruling that decriminalized gay sex, today the government told the Court that it accepts and will not challenge that earlier ruling. A lawyer told the Supreme Court that the government would not challenge a 2009 order by the Delhi High Court striking down a colonial-era law that made gay sex a crime. The …

Nobody knows what happened in India today. A sensitive debate over gay sex in India was thrown into farcical confusion Thursday after a government lawyer urged the Supreme Court to ban it — only for the government to issue a contradictory statement hours later, saying it accepts a recent ruling that made it legal. Television channels reported that the lawyer …