The Delhi High Court has reinterpreted a 149-year old colonial law and held that a homosexual in India is no longer a criminal. In a historic judgement the court held that "Section 377 of the Indian penal Code insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private violates personal freedom and liberty.
So does the attaining of legal sexual freedom by homosexuals mark progress and social reform in India, or is the court upholding values that the majority of Indians simply do not identify with?
CNN-IBN debates on issue on a special show Gay and Indian with renowned Indo-Canadian photographer, HIV positive and gay, Sunil Gupta, gay rights activist and lawyer Aditya Bandhopadhyay, actor Samir Soni, Editor, Manushi Madhu Kishwar, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese spokesperson Dominic Emmanuel and All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Kamal Faruqui.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Kamal Farooqui agreed with Madhu but added that sexual preferences should be kept inside the house.
“The judgement has been good as gays were treated as criminals and harassed. My Constitution does not allow it. My problem is exhibitionism. Privately you can do whatever you like. But don’t try to do it in public,” he added.
“Between the extremes lie millions of people and their rights are at stake here,” Gupta said while replying to the point that gay parades were more about exhibitionism.
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