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| India-Pakistan |
| India restores colonial-era homosexuality ban |
| 2013-12-12 |
| [IRISHTIMES] India's Supreme Court yesterday endorsed a colonial-era law from the 1860s criminalising gay sex. In a major setback for gay rights campaigners, a two-judge bench reversed the 2009 Delhi high court ruling that struck down the Victorian law that enables jailing of homosexuals for up to 10 years. In its 25-page judgment it decreed that courts should not intervene in this matter and that it was up to parliament to legislate on the issue of homosexuality. The 1861 British law under which homosexual acts are criminalised in India also applied in Ireland until it was repealed in 1993. Yesterday's ruling in India was in response to a petition by several Indian religious leaders opposed to the 2009 Delhi high court judgment which declared that banning homosexuality infringed the fundamental rights of Indians. "We are very angry about this regressive judgment," Arvind Narayan, a lawyer for the Alternative Law Forum gay rights group, said outside the court. "Such a decision was totally unexpected from the top court. It is a black day for the community," he added. Dozens of gay rights activists burst into tears outside the court after the ruling was issued and hugged each other in consolation. "We are back to square one in our fight for the democratic rights of gays" said Ashok Row Kavi of the Mumbai-based activist group Humsafar Trust. He said gay rights activists would continue to agitate against the draconian law -- frequently used by a corrupt police force to harass homosexual couples -- by appealing to a larger Supreme Court bench. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Paging Mr. Wilde, Mr. Oscar Wilde. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-12-12 01:41 |