After nearly two centuries of legalized discrimination, Indian homosexuals are finally seeing some rights. Today, only a few days after India’s second Gay Pride Parade ever, their parliament overturned legislation that criminalizes consensual homosexual sex. Previously, one could get up to 10 years in prison if caught in the act (and that’s longer than most rape or murder sentences). The law had been in place since colonial times, when the British outlawed all ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature.’ Reactionary protests have broken out throughout the deeply conservative country. Unfortunately, the verdict can still be challenged by the Supreme Court, and the law is not binding beyond the capital of Delhi. -Celeste
Photo courtesy of CNN
