Gay rights: The struggle through the years in India

New Delhi: Gay marriages have caught up with Indian society as the world changes around. No doubt in the past 50 years, social life has been under continuous change with the introduction of globalization. 'Gay or same sex marriages'; is one of those topics which has come up often for discussion.India is no exception to this but as a country which has a significant cultural history; this question shall be investigated from many aspects. Homosexual intercourse was a criminal offence until 2009 under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Delhi High Court ruled in Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi that Section 377 and other legal prohibitions against private, adult, consensual, and non-commercial same-sex conduct to be in direct violation of fundamental rights provided by the Indian Constitution. But the Supreme Court today overruled the Delhi High Court's historic verdict and termed same sex relationships illegal. Same-sex marriages are not legal in India, but that did not stop a Gurgaon court in 2011 from effectively recognising a marriage between two women. Since marrying, the couple started receiving threats from friends and relatives in their village. The couple were shifted to a safe house and were provided adequate security on the court orders. The couple did win family approval eventually.Let's have a look at the issue of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) in India through the years: In September 2006, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and acclaimed writer Vikram Seth came together with scores of other prominent Indians in public life to publicly demand this change in the legal regime. On 30 June 2008, Indian labour minister Oscar Fernandes backed calls for decriminalisation of consensual gay sex, and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for greater tolerance towards homosexuals. On 23 July 2008, Bombay High Court Judge Bilal Nazki said that India's unnatural sex law should be reviewed. The Law Commission of India had historically favoured the retention of this section, but in its 172nd report, delivered in 2000 it recommended its repeal. On 9 August 2008, then health minister, Anbumani Ramadoss campaigned for changing Section 377 of the Indian penal code, which makes homosexuality an unnatural act and thus illegal. In 2005, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, who hails from Rajpipla in the Gujarat, publicly came out as gay. He was quickly anointed by the Indian and the world media as the first openly gay royal. He was disinherited as an immediate reaction by the royal family, though they eventually reconciled. On 29 June 2008, five Indian cities (Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore and Pondicherry) celebrated gay pride parades. About 2,000 people turned out in these nationwide parades. Mumbai held its pride march on 16 August 2008, with Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley also joining in the festivities. On 4 July 2008, the Delhi High Court, while hearing the case to decriminalize homosexuality, opined that there was nothing unusual in holding a gay rally, something which is common outside India. Days after the 2 July 2009 Delhi High Court verdict legalizing homosexuality, Pink Pages, India's first online LGBT magazine was released. On 16 April 2009, India's first gay magazine Bombay Dost, was re-launched by Celina Jaitley in Mumbai. On 27 June 2009, Bhubaneswar, the capital city of the Odisha, saw its first gay pride parade. On 28 June 2009, Delhi and Bangalore held their second gay pride parades, and Chennai – generally considered to be a very conservative city – held its first. Attendance at the pride parades has been increasing significantly since 2008, with an estimated participation of 13,500 people in Delhi and 1,500 people in Bangalore in 2010, and a similar attendance of over 3,000 in Mumbai in 2011. Kolkata Rainbow Pride festival held on 15 July 2012 was attended by more than 1500 people and many online forums like www.Jubwetalk.in, Desiboys, Velvet were present to support the cause. First Gujarat state LGBT pride parade in Surat was held on October 6 2013.