Indian media hail court verdict ruling gay sex legal
INDIA: The Indian media hailed Friday a court ruling to
decriminalise gay sex and urged the government to respond by striking a
colonial-era ban on homosexuality from the statute books.
“Gay and finally legal” ran the headline of the Mail Today paper
which like other dailies was awash with articles and pictures of India’s
largely ostracised gay and transgender communities celebrating
Thursday’s Delhi High Court ruling. “Its ok to be gay” read the banner
headline of the Hindustan Times while the Asian Age welcomed what it
called a “Sexual Revolution in India”. Homosexuality had been illegal in
India since 1860 under a statute introduced by British colonial rulers
that banned “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.”
Conviction carried a fine and maximum 10-year jail sentence.
The High Court ruled that the statute violated basic individual
rights guaranteed by the constitution.
The Times of India, which titled its main piece “India’s Gay Day”,
declared in its editorial that by legalising same-sex relations, the
court had “restored the personal freedom and rights of homosexuals.”
Often harassed by the police, India’s gay community has largely
remained in the closet.
The ruling should “act as a catalyst, encouraging our legislators to
shed their blinkers and take a more progressive view on the issue,” the
Times said in its editorial titled “Victory for Choice.”
“In 21st century India, it is perverse to penalise adults for their
sexual choices,” it added.
Applauding the ruling, an editorial in the Indian Express urged the
government to read the decision and learn from its “enlightened
constitutionalism.”
“Liberty is an incremental accomplishment and a grand step has just
been taken,” the Express said.
The Hindustan Times argued that, prior to the introduction of the
1860 statute, India had a traditionally “non-intrusive and blase”
attitude towards homosexuality.
“It took 150 years for us in India ... to figure out that we didn’t
have a problem with same-sex relationships,” it said.
“Not only does homophobia run counter to Indian mores but more
importantly nobody cares much about it.”
NEW DELHI, Friday, AFP |
