According to Justice Indu Malhotra, homosexuality “is not an aberration but a variation,” and “because of family pressures and societal pressures, they are forced to marry the opposite sex.” The decision could not only liberate tens of millions of gay Indians from a cruel and pointless law but also set a precedent throughout the Commonwealth, which shares a similar legal tradition.Īs India barrels into the 21st century, a progressive, fast-urbanizing, and young country is fighting for change against conservative, traditional forces struggling to maintain their control. Based on the proceedings so far, rainbow flags are waving.

In India’s Supreme Court system, the highest court in the country and the last word on legal matters, individual benches-subgroups of judges formed on an ad hoc basis-can reconsider the constitutionality of laws.

In what may be the last great battle in a fight for gay rights that has lasted more than two decades, a five-member bench headed by India’s chief justice, Dipak Misra, appointed just last August, is challenging the constitutionality of Section 377, the British-era law that bans sexual activities “against the order of nature,” including homosexual activities. Five years after the Indian Supreme Court decided that an archaic piece of colonial law meant gay sex was illegal in India, the judicial system has a chance to set things right.