Closet opened: Gay community overjoyed at HC judgement

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that gay sex among consenting adults was no crime. The court said that section 377 of the IPC - which criminalised an act of consensual sex among adults - is a violation of the constitution and fundamental rights.

Though a historic judgement, India must never be allowed to forget that it has been a long and often harrowing journey for its queer community.

For a hundred and forty nine years the gay community in India has been mistreated. Often being arrested, threatened, blackmailed and sexually exploited with a tool called Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. An archaic law introduced by the British - though ironically removed from the British law books.

Being booked under Section 377, a cognisable offence means that a policeman can pick you up based on just suspicion.

"In the 60's I walked into a police trap. I went with a friend to a particular location that was used for sex and we were casually in the area and these cops turned up and they accused us of having sex," said gay rights activist, Sunil Gupta.

"They decided to pick on me and I was unprepared for this and didn't know how to handle the situation, so they beat me up and then they moved on to blackmailing me," he added.

See Closet opened: Gay community overjoyed at HC judgement IBNLive.com