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(CNN thread)
The Supreme Court of India overturned a colonial-era law criminalizing consensual homosexual sex, reversing more than 150 years of anti-LGBT legislation.
The court on Thursday morning announced the historic verdict in Delhi, as enthusiastic crowds cheered and rights advocates kissed emotionally.
Section 377, an archaic law imposed under the British regime that punished sexual intercourse "against the order of nature", was punishable by a maximum life sentence.
The decision to repeal the law is a major victory for Indian LGBT activists and supporters after years of determined struggle.
"I can not even explain how I feel now. The long battle has been won. Finally, we have been recognized by this country, "said Bismaya Kumar Raula, wiping tears in court.
Other people gathered said that if they had anticipated a positive result, the result was still a shock.
"It's a moving day for me. It's a mixture of feelings, it was a long fight, "said Rituparna Borah. "There was not enough media or social support sooner, but we have it now. People will no longer be considered criminals. "
Although the law has rarely been fully enforced, lawyers have argued that it contributes to perpetuating a culture of fear and repression within the LGBT community.
A change in legislation "will create a space of freedom where you can begin to wait for justice," CNN Dan Sheikh, a law professor at Jindal Global Law School and LGBT advocate, told CNN.
Long battle
The historic decision taken Thursday is the culmination of a long and often heavy legal battle for equality in a country where homosexuality remains a taboo subject.
In 2009, the Delhi High Court ruled that the prohibition of consensual homosexual sex constituted a violation of fundamental rights. The decision, which applied only to the Delhi area, was promptly overturned by the Supreme Court in 2013, following a petition launched by a coalition of Christian, Hindu and Muslim groups.
In its 2013 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that only "a tiny fraction of the country's population is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender" and that it was "legally unsustainable" to repeal this act .
In recent hearings, lawyers representing more than a dozen gay men and lesbians have challenged the constitutional basis of this earlier decision.
"It was bad judgment. It was not legal and it was wrongly based on the principles of the constitution, "said Colin Gonsalves, one of the lawyers representing the current group of petitioners.
The case was reinforced last year, when the Supreme Court decided to uphold the constitutional right to privacy.
The ruling, which stated that sexual orientation was an "essential attribute of privacy," helped galvanize activists.
"Last year's decision overturned the 2013 ruling," said Gonsalves. "There is no problem now. There is not much left to discuss, "he added.
Opposition to the decision to overturn section 377 was based primarily on religious and moral objections. In an interview earlier this year, legislator Subramanian Swamy, a prominent member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party, called the legalization of the gay sex a "danger to national security" and "against Hindutva".
Hinduism has traditionally maintained a flexible and non-normative view of sexuality. However, in recent years, the most intransigent Hindu groups have adopted a more conservative approach.
In the pre-trial period, the BJP refrained from taking a position publicly, referring instead to the court.
Dehumanizing colonial law
According to Lucas Mendos, co-author of the 2017 report of the LGBTI International Association "Homophobia Sponsored by the State", of the 48 former British colonies that criminalize homosexuality, 30 still have laws based on anti-LGBT colonial legislation.
In the case of India, the original British law had remained more or less unchanged since its introduction by the British colonizers in the 1860s.
According to the Indian National Record Office, more than 2,100 cases were registered under the law in 2016. India has not kept a separate section 377 prosecution database until 2014 .
Arif Jafar, one of the petitioner groups that the Supreme Court ruled, was arrested in 2001 under section 377 and spent 49 days in jail.
Jafar now runs an informal support group in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in the north of the country. The group, named Trust, provides counseling, support and sexual health services to gay and transgender people.
In his petition, Jafar described the experience as dehumanizing and violating his basic rights. He also claimed to have been beaten and humiliated every day because of his sexuality.
Indian activists pointed out that the law not only holds members of the LGBT community in the closet, it also invites other forms of discrimination, providing coverage for blackmail and harassment.
"The constant fear of 377 that we have felt will not be there for the next generation," said Yashwinder Singh of the Mumbai-based LGBT rights group, The Humsafar Trust.
"Adopted laws are one thing, but changing society is a big challenge," Singh said of the court's ruling on Thursday.
"Our work started several times now. We have to go talk to people and change their mentality so that they accept every human being. "
Changing focus
The original British penal code prohibiting homosexual sex was in part the product of a strict Victorian moral framework, born of a Christian faith that defined sexual activity as deviant.
But attitudes have changed, said Danish Sheikh, the law professor, who has worked on court challenges prior to section 377.
"After 2013, there was a lot of energetic activism in the country. The kind of outrage that has been felt has resonated in civil society outside the LGBT community, "Sheikh said.
"People have started to see themselves as legal subjects and society has begun to tolerate and even accept queer people."
After the announcement on Thursday, the Congress Party, the country's main opposition, issued a congratulatory message on social media, hailing the "progressive and decisive verdict" of the Supreme Court.
As supporters celebrate the decision, activists will now focus on the broader issue of equality.
"The next step is to look at the rights issues. Right now, it's only decriminalizing, "Nazi Foundation founder Anjali Gopalan told CNN who led the fight against Article 377.
"The right that every citizen of the country should have and should not be taken for granted. As the right to marry, the right to adopt, the right to inherit. Things that nobody questions and that are clearly denied to a certain part of the citizens.
