Six things you should know after the Supreme Court verdict on Section 377, Indian Penal Code:a) On December 11, 2013, the Supreme Court reversed the Delhi High Court ruling on Section 377, which means this law is back in force, as it was till before July 2, 2009.b) Section 377 criminalizes any sexual act that does not involve penile-vaginal penetration. It applies to all people, irrespective of their gender identity or sexual orientation. That means straight people are also affected by this law, and not just those who are homosexual, bisexual or transgender in orientation.
c) Section 377 in itself does not mean that you can be arrested for simply being or saying you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Hijra or Kothi. Your freedom of expression is not under threat.
d) Arrest under this law requires medical forensic evidence of specific sexual acts having taken place - oral, anal or other non penile-vaginal sexual acts.
e) You cannot be arrested for being in a declared or undeclared same-sex relationship. Strict material evidence of specific sexual acts will be necessary for arrest.
f) Community, family, workplace or police harassment, blackmail and extortion may take place under threat of Section 377 or even because you appear or are known to be “not straight”. But more than anything else, it is these acts that are illegal and they can be tackled with a dose of courage and sound legal action
If you feel more points need to be elaborated, please do let us know here or at vartablog@gmail.com.
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There are protests, petitions and places where you can say your say all over the place. You don't have to do anything. You could stay at home and rage in quiet, as I have been doing for the past few days. But you might be feeling like taking steps that might help make a difference (which is a nicely optimistic step, for those of us capable of it).
You could start here:
(If you're not in Bangalore, the same protest is happening at different cities across India and the world, so look here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1374294672825321/?fref=ts)
Or you could call a news agency, and tell them what you think:
Love is Not a Crime! Protect Our Right to Equality - #Repeal377
- Petition by
The Supreme Court has upheld Section 377 which calls for imprisonment of anyone who "voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature". This is an outdated 19th century law that is against freedom of choice, right to equality and right to privacy.
Our constitution protects the “right to equality before the law”, and this judgement does the complete opposite. Such clear discrimination is absolutely unacceptable and we must not tolerate it in our country.
Everyone is affected - this law does not apply only to those of a different sexual orientation - the vague and outdated wording is open to interpretation and violates the right to consensual sex in privacy. If we thousands of Indians speak out, theParliament has power to vote to overturn the Supreme Court.
Sign the petition asking parliament to immediately decriminalise consensual adult same-sex relations.
The Delhi High Court had on July 2, in 2009 decriminalised gay sex as provided in Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and had ruled that sex between two consenting adults in private would not be an offence. But today the Supreme Court today overturned that order in one quick judgement.
The good news is that many Members of the Parliament have come out saying that the Government should decriminalise homosexuality. If more MPs know that this is something the public cares about, we’ll be able to ensure Section 377 gets amended.
Raise your voice to the government to make sure consensual adult same-sex relations is legal. Please sign now.
To:
Government of India
Government of India
Our constitution protects the “right to equality before the law”, and this judgement does the complete opposite. Such clear discrimination is absolutely unacceptable and we must not tolerate it in our country. Please amend section 377 and decriminalise consensual homosexual relations immediately.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your name]
You could party:
I suggest a nice combination of all of the above, plus extra chocolate.
