Verdict reflects social changes in India, says foreign media
◗ The New York Times described the ruling as a ‘ groundbreaking victory’ for gay rights in India which has put to rest a legal battle that stretched for many years
Washington/ London, Sept. 6: The world media on Thursday hailed the overturning of a colonial- era law in India that criminalised gay sex, saying the landmark ruling was a boost for gay rights not only in the world’s largest democracy but also across the world. The Supreme Court Thursday decriminalised part of the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises consensual gay sex, saying it was irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary.
The apex court unanimously held that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer ( LGBTQ) community possess the same constitutional rights as other citizens of the country.
The Washington Post said India’s top court’s ruling was a landmark victory for gay rights in the world’s largest democracy. It noted noted that activists have struggled for more than a decade to invalidate the section of the Indian Penal Code that prohibited consensual “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” The leading American newspaper commented that the ruling is also a boost for gay rights around the globe.
“The judgment reflects rapid social change in India, where only five years ago, the top court upheld the same law. Since then, campaigners have mobilised a movement to spread awareness about gay rights,” it said.
Economic and technological changes have spurred shifts in thinking too, it said while pointing out that conservative attitudes toward homosexuality still persist. The New York Times described the ruling as a “groundbreaking victory” for gay rights in India which has put to rest a legal battle that stretched for many years and burying one of the most glaring vestiges of India’s colonial past. It quoted Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia director for Human Rights Watch as saying that the ruling could set a precedent for nations with similar colonial- era laws to end their “discriminatory, regressive treatment” of gay and transgender citizens.