The Supreme Court of India ruled on September 6 that the Victorian-era Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the ban on “unnatural sex” that has been used to penalize same-sex activity, violates the fundamental rights of LGBT people. Building on a pioneering ruling by the Delhi High Court, and repudiating a decision by a two-judge panel of the Supreme Court that had reversed the High Court ruling, a five-judge panel of the 31-member Supreme … <Read More>
Supreme Court of India
Foreign and International Courts Issue a Burst of LGBT Rights Rulings
Over the course of just four days, January 8 through 11, 2018, major courts on three continents have issued rulings that will affect the rights of tens of millions of LGBT people. On January 8, the Supreme Court of India ordered reconsideration of the 2014 decision that had restored the country’s law against gay sex, in an Order that quoted extensively from prior rulings critical of the 2014 decision. On January 9, the Inter-American … <Read More>
Supreme Court of India Revives Sodomy Law
Today, December 11, a two-judge panel from the Supreme Court of India found “legally unsustainable” the 2009 ruling by the Delhi High Court that had struck down India’s colonial-era sodomy law, Section 377. Justices G.S. Singhvi and Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya issued an opinion that drew immediate protests from progressive elements of society in India, and provoked street demonstrations against the ruling in several cities. The attitude of the justices was most clearly expressed near the … <Read More>