After Supreme Court verdict on Section 377, LGBTQ community members, activists gear up for next challenge

India will remember the morning of 6 September, 2018 for a long time to come, when at 11.30 am, in a matter of half an hour, the Supreme Court decriminalised consensual intercourse between persons of the same sex and read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code Mumbai: India will remember the morning of 6 September, 2018 for a long time to come, when at 11.30 am, in a matter of half an hour, the Supreme Court decriminalised consensual intercourse between persons of the same sex and read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, thus providing a huge boost to the LGBTQ community of India. In its historic ruling, the Supreme Court said parts of Section 377, which criminalised consensual unnatural sex, were “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary”, thus making India the 126th country in the world where homosexuality is legal. No one can escape their individuality.” The apex court also held that decriminalisation was the first step, and that the LGBTQ community had a fundamental right to equality before the law. “The real work is, of course, towards marriage, inheritance, sex education, mental and sexual health of the LGBT community; all this now on the cards,” said Kavi.