#Section377Verdict🏳️🌈
Section 377 - Unnatural offences: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Basically, it upheld the criminalisation of gay sex while virtually denying the LGBTQ community the right to sexuality, sexual orientation and choice of partner.
Why am I talking about this law, you ask?
September 6 was observed as a day of a celebration as a historical judgement was passed, i.e, we saw the decriminalization of homosexuality and abolishment of #section377. Reading down the 158-year-old law, a five-judge Constitutional bench led by CJI Dipak Misra, A.M. Khanwilkar, R.F. Nariman, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, found sexual orientation a natural phenomenon, and that Section 377 infringed on the fundamental right to non-discrimination, to live a life of dignity, and privacy guaranteed in the Constitution. As loads of young adults took to social media to express their happiness and support for the “gay people” who had to keep their relationship a hush because a law stated that it was “illegal” and “unnatural”, there were even some phrases such as “Being gay is a disease” and degrading jokes thrown in between the shouts of support.
During a lecture today, we were asked, “Do you think that, taking the Section 377 Verdict into consideration, the mentality of people has changed? Or will it still remain the same?”
A hush fell over the class as we pondered over the question for a few seconds before concluding with a shared opinion that “No, it won’t change the mentality of the society. There’s still a long way to go”. They may be supportive of the law, but do you think all of them would accept their own son being gay or their own daughter being a lesbian? Or even bisexual or transgender? They actually wouldn’t. There will always be some form of discrepancy within the people who show their support for the abolishment of the law but are actually against it.
Teenagers today showed immense love and support for their friends who could finally “come out of the closet” without the fear of being punished for something they had no control over. After all, can you control who you fall in love with? Not really, no.
During this discussion, a couple of juniors came into class carrying what they called the “Pride Badge”. As they walked in, they said, “We aren’t allowed to give this to students but because you have shown love and support and belief for these individuals, we shall give you one too!”. Actions like these make you restore your faith in humanity a little at a time. After all, the future is the youth, isn’t it?
I thank all those who were in support of this, who fought for the rights of people who are in no way “unnatural” or “abnormal”. They are humans, just like any of us, and they know how to love, much more than any of us do.
We still have a long, long way to go before we actually make this world a better place for the future, by eradicating these illogical and inhumane laws, by showing immense support for people of all genders (Yes, please acknowledge that there are more than two genders in the world), by loving one another regardless of their sexual orientation and helping each other at every step on the journey to a brighter, better future. I mean, “United we stand, divided we fall”, right?
As I conclude, I would like to ask you, do YOU believe the mentality of people towards LGBT Community will change now that the law has been abolished? Or will they still remain the same?

