Law

It happened. It finally happened. The Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality today. I’m just gonna let that sink in for you. Because it’s still sinking in for me. Why is this such a big deal, you ask? The court has struck a sharp blow to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Enforced in 1861, it prohibits any sexual act ‘against the order of nature’ (i.e., pretty much everything except procreative peno-vaginal sex). With its roots in Victorian England’s morals and values, Section 377 was meant to outlaw sodomy, and quickly became a tool for persecuting individuals who experience and express same-sex attraction. The 157-year-old law is outdated and outrageous. It punishes consensual sex between adults, a law hinging on the invasion of privacy, a law that allows soci...