As the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court was delivering its verdict on Section 377 of the IPC, there was a loud shriek from the corner of the lawns of the Supreme Court. It was from a college student who had just read a tweet from inside the courtroom. The shriek was followed by a spontaneous celebration involving tears, relief and joy.
Among those involved in the celebration was Smriti, a college student who had skipped college to soak in the atmosphere at the Supreme Court as the verdict was being delivered. “When I came here in the morning with my friends, we did not realise there would be so much media attention and we were scared that our parents would see us,” she said as cameras focused on her immediately after the verdict started being read. “This may not be the ideal way to come out to my parents but yes, we are not criminals anymore... we are who we are,” said Smriti adding that the war was not won yet, it was only a battle.
Another college student from Ambedkar University, Ambuj, who had already told his parents about his sexual orientation said, “Teenagers will now not be afraid to come out if they are gay because of the legal backing. It will only create more awareness and society will soon have to accept that the picture of an ideal family does not have to have a mother and a father.”
Bismaiya Kumar, holding back tears, said that it was important for society to be educated that homosexuality was not a disease and we as a community must work towards reaching that goal. “The next step for me is that I am look forwards to the day when we are given right to have a civil partnership,” said Kumar.