Indian Supreme Court Legalises Gay Sex

The Indian Supreme Court has overturned a ruling that previously criminalised gay sex.

The court has ordered that discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation is a violation of rights. Section 377 outlawed gay sex because it was categorised as an unnatural offence, and carried a 10-year prison sentence.

Technically the law criminalised all cases of anal and oral sex, but it was more commonly used to harass the Indian LGBTQ+ community.

According to the BBC, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said: “Criminalising carnal intercourse is irrational, arbitrary and manifestly unconstitutional.”

Judge DY Chandrach continued: “[the state has] no right to control the private lives of LGBT community members…the denial of the right to sexual orientation [is] the same as denying the right to privacy.”

The Indian public has apparently been in favour of scrapping the law for a while.

However, large religious groups have been strongly opposing this decision. These same groups have also spoken out against Facebook Dating, because they are worried about the influence that Western culture is having on the country.

Grindr has over 10,000 users in India and recently launched a HIV test locating programme to help them find trusted healthcare.

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