India’s Supreme Court on Thursday legalized gay sex.
Section 377 of the Indian penal code, enacted by British rulers in 1861, banned “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”.
“The law had become a weapon for harassment for the LGBT community,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra said as he announced the landmark verdict.
Activists had been fighting the ban since the 1990s, with their efforts suffering several court reverses before Thursday’s verdict which sparked celebrations among lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender groups across the vast South Asian nation.
Members of the LGBT community hugged each other and cried as news of the verdict spread.
“I am speechless! It’s taken a long time to come but finally I can say I am free and I have equal rights as others,” said Rama Vij, a college student who wore a rainbow scarf.
According to official data, 2,187 cases under Section 377 were registered in 2016 under the category of “unnatural offences”.
