“I can love my boy and not feel like a criminal any more,” says Shivkumar Lanka, excited about the Supreme Court ruling that will change the course of his life. Lanka is the founder of Nestam, a city-based voluntary group for LGBT community.
When the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra scraped Section 377 of Indian Penal Code that criminalised gay sex, and termed it as ‘irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary,’ it sent waves of happiness across the country and was welcomed as a sign of inclusion, privacy and progress. Hashtags like ‘sec377’, ‘supremecourt’ and ‘loveislove’ trended on Twitter.
In the name of love
Section 377 has a long history of being used as a cover to blackmail, sexually assault and harassgay and transgender people. “For years the police has been harassing the members of LGBT community under the veil of this law. As a result, many members of the community refused to approach the police and file a complaint even if they were abused or cheated. However, this will now change and people can approach the police without any fear,” says Shivkumar.
In 2016, the ban on gay sex was challenged by five petitioners — Bharatnatyam dancer Navtej Singh Johar, restaurateur Ritu Dalmia, journalist Sunil Mehra, businesswoman Ayesha Kapur and entrepreneur Aman Nath, who stated that they were living in the fear of being punished.
Says Shivkumar, “We will no longer have to live in a shadow. I am hopeful that this decision will end the abuse, blackmail and persecution that the LGBTQ community has been facing for more than a century. We no longer will be punished for loving another human.” The phone of 29-year-old Sanchari Biswas has not stopped buzzing since the judgement. Messages from across the country have been pouring in to congratulate her on her newly-attained freedom.
“September 6 will indeed be my Independence Day,” says Sanchari, a research scholar. “Now I am free to hold that hand of a person and not worry about being harassed for it. There will no longer be gay or lesbian bashing. No longer will we be bullied for the choice we have made,” she says. For Sanchari, the decision is another catalyst to convince her mother that homosexuality is natural.
“ On a personal level, I hope this verdict will help me bridge the gap between me and my mother. I can convince her, that this is a natural phenomenon and not a mental state or a ‘phase’ that I am going through. Now that Section 377 has been decriminalised, I am hoping that she will accept me and shed off the opinion that I am indulging in something that is illegal,” she says.
The end of Section 377 means new beginnings for many. “Though there are several other issues that need to be addressed and many more battles to be fought, this is definitely a move that will encourage us to get what we deserve,” said Shivkumar. However, both Sanchari and Shivkumar believe that though the legal battle is over, there is a long way to go before society accepts and the moral policing ceases. It is not immediately going to become easy for people to come out.
Hope for a better future
Rahul Naidu a bisexual who is pursuing Liberal arts at Yale— NUS, Singapore, feels the social stigma attached to the LGBTQ community has been weighing them down. But he is optimistic with the recent verdict and hopes it will bring about change in how society views the community.
“Individuals with access to resources tend to leave the country to evade this prejudice but the same cannot be said for millions who do not have that privilege. However, this is a great stepping stone to LGBT lives across India as some of these issues will start to mitigate. Although it would also be unwise to think that this heralds the end of troubles for LGBT community as a whole in India, as this is only the beginning,” he says.
He is also working on building a support, care and prevention centre in Visakhapatnam for HIV victims within the LGBT community.