Mumbai: One step forward, two steps back.
That’s how a lot of people around the world are viewing India’s supreme court decisions to overturn a landmark 2009 ruling that decriminalized gay sex.
The story spread like wildfire worldwide with international media outlets such as the New York Times, CBC News, and the BBC all reporting how the court had overturned a ruling internationally lauded as forward thinking and progressive in favor of an antiquated remnant of Victorian society imposed on the country under colonial rule.
Social media channels exploded as people learned the court had reinstated the law that makes homosexual acts punishable by up to a decade in prison.
On Vancouver Bollywood station RJ1200, one Facebook follower opined that “a lot of India’s lawmakers are extremely conservative and religious. Most of them are willing to ignore the evidence and make laws based on their own personal biases.”
Another wrote, “The world is changing, and people need to change with it, accept everyone.”
There were, of course, several groups, primarily of a religious nature, that supported the ruling. Bollywood, however, seemed unanimous in its disappointment, interpreting the decision as a betrayal of the people the law is meant to protect and serve.
On Twitter, actress Anushka Sharma wrote, “Freedom is such a deceptive term. Rights are an ambiguous mystery.” Singer/actress Shruti Haasan posted, “It’s frightening how someone else decides how when and who you should love — basically freedom of choice isn’t legal anymore.” Actor-director Farhan Akhtar eloquently summed up his opinion by tweeting “The Supreme Court got it wrong today.”
According to the Times of India, judges cited that it was up to lawmakers — not the courts — to change the law, which seems reasonable enough.
However, with the conservative Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata poised to seize power during the next election, it seems unlikely any change will take place in the near future. For the LGBT community, it’s a big slap in the face by a country that prides itself on being the world’s largest democracy.
