GAY NEWS : India on Track to De-Criminalize Homosexuality
The Delhi High Court, sitting in the capital of the sprawling Southern Asian nation of India, is seeking advice from the country’s attorney general about the legality and enforcement of the infamous Section 377, which outlaws homosexual acts. ’
The Press Trust of India is reporting that a rights group called NGO Naz Foundation is looking for the court to find 377 "unconstitutional" for violating a citizen’s fundamental right and making sex illegal.
"Section 377 demeans a gay man. It silences a gay man into accepting the discrimination against him. He will not come out to declare his orientation", the NGO contended in its suit, which was filed in defense of a male couple."
It can be criticised on the basis of moral ground but it is illegal to make homosexual acts between consenting adults an offence," NGO’s Anand Grover told the court.
The Times of India is reporting that the gay community of Mumbai and other cities is looking at the court’s decision "with bated breath." "Living with one’s partner is taken for granted by my straight friends, but I have to make sure who I tell about our relationship," a gay man told the paper.
There was a move in 2001 to amend or get rid of 377, but nothing came of it. Now, in today’s climate, and with the memory of incidents like the recent self-immolation of a lesbian couple forced to marry men in Northeast India, activists are hopeful of a change.
Source: http://www.edgelosangeles.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=&sc3=&id=74940
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