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| An Indian supporter of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community takes part in a pride parade in Bhopal in July: the supreme court is about to pass judgement on laws outlawing homosexuality. AFP/File |
NEW DELHI
(AFP) - India's Supreme Court is likely on Thursday to deliver an eagerly
awaited judgement on colonial-era legislation criminalising homosexuality,
lawyers said.
Section 377
of the Indian penal code, a relic from 1860s British legislation, bans gay acts
as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and allows for
jail terms of up to life.
The
country's top court began hearing petitions against the ban in July, beginning
an emotional debate in the world's largest democracy over the right to freedom
and privacy.
Tripti
Tandon, a lawyer for one of the petitioners in the case, confirmed to AFP the
judgement was listed for Thursday.
Her client
Aris Jafer was arrested and sent to prison for 50 days in 2001.
"We
have high hopes from the Supreme Court," said Rituparna Borah, a co-director
of Nazaria, which describes itself as a queer feminist advocacy group.
"This
law should not have been there is the first place. This should have gone long
back. We are asking for our basic human rights, nothing more," she told
AFP.
Utsav
Maheshwari, a 20-year-old gay college student, said he was "super
excited" and hoping the "court will legitimise the community by
acknowledging their existence".
The Delhi
High Court effectively decriminalised gay sex in 2009, but the Supreme Court reinstated
legal sanctions four years later after a successful appeal by religious groups.
Gay sex has
long been taboo in conservative India -- particularly in rural areas where
nearly 70 percent of people live -- and homophobia is widespread. Some still regard
homosexuality as a mental illness.
According
to official data, 2,187 cases under Section 377 were registered in 2016 under
the category of "unnatural offences". Seven people were convicted and
16 acquitted.
Globally 72
countries criminalise same-sex relationships, according to a 2017 report by the
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.
VIDEO: India's Supreme Court strikes down a ban on gay sex after a decades-old campaign against a colonial-era law used to hold back homosexual rights pic.twitter.com/Ckm2aqV3bI— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 6, 2018
Members of India's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community have vowed to use the historic ruling to push for greater rights including same-sex marriage in the South Asian nation 🏳️🌈 https://t.co/7d4H8uVPMj— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 6, 2018
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