INTRODUCTION

As the LGBTQ+ community and BITS Pilani celebrate Pride Month with #PilaniWithPride, the English Press Club will attempt to revisit the history of queer movements and organisations in India which have paved the way for those fighting for equality today. A brief timeline of the major events that took place during this long and difficult path of justice and equality is outlined below, along with relevant sources and reading material for those who further wish to educate themselves.

TIMELINE

1. 1861: Section 377 of the IPC is first introduced by the British.

LGBTQ+ themes have been widely explored throughout ancient and medieval Indian texts and artwork, with epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as well as the temples of Khajuraho, standing testament to the fact that homosexuality and gender fluidity, though not necessarily approved in the mainstream, were certainly prevalent and acknowledged by ancient Indians. In 1861, homosexuality was declared ‘against the order of nature’ by colonial laws imposed by the British and modelled on their own Buggery Act of 1533. However, this law did not act in accordance with India’s general attitude towards homosexuality at the time, but rather the colonisers’ own strict Christian belief system, entirely disregarding the Indian’s traditional cultural perceptions of same-sex attraction.

Out of the remaining 71 countries where homosexuality is still illegal, more than half are former British colonies.

2. 1977: The first study of homosexuality in India is published.

The polymath writer and widely-dubbed “Human Calculator”  Shakuntala Devi published the first Indian study on homosexuality titled ‘The World of Homosexuals’. It received critical reception, exposed the harsh realities of living as a homosexual person in Indian society, called for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and explored the concept of sexual fluidity in depth.

‘On this level, nothing less than full and complete acceptance will serve—not tolerance and not sympathy.’ (Shakuntala Devi, in ‘The World of Homosexuals’)

3. 1981: The first All-India Hijra conference is held in Agra.

In the Indian subcontinent, the Hijra community is a community of gender non-conforming individuals including eunuchs, intersex people, and transgender people (traditionally, those assigned male at birth). The first All-India Hijra conference held in Agra brought together over 50,000 Hijras from across South Asia.

4. August 11^th, 1992: The first known public protest for gay rights in India is held.

Nearly 22 years after the Stonewall riots, an organisation called AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA) gathered outside of the Delhi Police headquarters to protest the arrest of several men from Connaught Place’s Central Park on charges of homosexual activity. Although the protest did not yield any results at the time, it can be landmarked as the first demonstration of civil unrest surrounding the issue of gay rights in India.

5. 1994: Voting rights as a third sex are granted to the Hijra community .

6. 1994: First legal protest challenging Section 377 is organised.

After being refused permission to distribute condoms in Tihar Jail by the Inspector General of Prisons at the time and learning of the forced segregation of HIV-positive prisoners, the ABVA filed a Public interest litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377. This petition was the first attempt to legalise homosexuality in India but was dismissed by the Court in 2001. The ABVA, which had also published a pamphlet titled ‘Less than Gay’ explicating the plight of the queer community in India in 1991, greatly helped the LGBTQ+ rights movements gain momentum and gave India its first champion of gay rights.

‘Many people deny that homosexuality exists in India, dismissing it as a phenomenon of the industrialised world. Others acknowledge its presence but condemn it as a capitalist aberration, a concern too individualistic to warrant attention in a poor country like ours. Still others label it a disease to be cured, an abnormality to be set right, a crime to be punished.’ (excerpt from ‘Less Than Gay’) 

7. July 2^nd, 1999: India’s first Pride March is organised.

The Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk (KRPW), called The Friendship Walk, was the first Pride parade to be organised in South Asia. It was held to make a political statement of solidarity and tolerance between the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalised communities. It had fifteen participants. The KRPW has been hosted nearly every year since 2003 and has since grown in size, with the 2018 KRPW gathering over 5,000 participants.

8. July 2001: Naz Foundation challenges Section 377 in Delhi High Court.

The Naz Foundation is an NGO established in 1994 that works on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and sexual health in India. Following a police raid on a park and the office of an NGO working on AIDS-related issues in Lucknow which led to several arrests on counts of suspected homosexuality, the Naz Foundation and Lawyers Collective filed a petition to the Delhi High Court. This lawsuit sought the legalisation of homosexual intercourse between consenting adults; however, it was dismissed by the Delhi High Court in 2003 on technical grounds. The Naz Foundation then made an appeal to the Supreme Court against this decision, eventually leading to the case being sent back to the Delhi High Court For reconsideration.

9. July 2^nd, 2009: Homosexual acts are decriminalised by the Delhi High Court.

The Delhi High Court, in the historic Naz Foundation v. Government of NCT of Delhi case, found Section 377 to be a direct violation of the fundamental rights protected by the Indian constitution. The final verdict decriminalised (but did not legalise) homosexual acts between consenting adults, implying that while it was no longer a criminal offence there were still legal prohibitions that were punishable by fines or other penalties. It also addressed that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation would be non-permissible under Article 15. This judgement, though short-lived, paved the way for similar endeavours in the future.

According to an eyewitness account, as the Chief Justice read out the conclusion, ‘an audible gasp went around the room. By the time the Chief Justice had finished reading the conclusion of the judgment, people were openly weeping and there were handshakes and hugs all around.’ Within hours, news of the judgment was being carried by international news sites. 

10. December 11^th, 2013: Supreme Court sets aside the Delhi High Court order.

Overruling the Delhi High Court judgement in the Suresh Kumar Kaushal v. Naz Foundation case, the Supreme Court reinstated Section 377 of the IPC. This was enforced despite the protests of numerous LGBTQ+ rights groups as well as the filing of a collection of written submissions by mental health professionals to the Indian Supreme Court summarising the significant psychological distress upholding IPC 377 caused the queer community. However, it was noted that the matter should be brought up in the parliament in order for Section 377 to be officially disposed of.

This judgement was heavily criticised in the UN and was called ‘a significant step backwards (for India)’ by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

11. January 28^th, 2014: Supreme Court dismisses review petition filed against the December 11^th verdict.

The Central Government, the Naz Foundation, and several other organisations filed a petition against the verdict to uphold Section 377. However, this petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court claiming that those affected by the law constituted a minuscule fraction of society. The decision was taken even though the homosexual population in India was recorded to be well over 2.5 million people, with experts claiming that even this was a seriously minimised estimation.

12. February 2014: Homosexuality is declassified as a mental illness in India.

The Indian Psychiatric Society released a statement stating ‘it is time to stop looking at homosexuality as a mental illness’ and stressing that there was no scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be altered by any treatment. It went on to support the decriminalisation of homosexuality and enumerate the ill-effects of conversion therapy on mental health.

13. April 15^th, 2014: Courts mandate the treatment of transgender individuals as a third category of gender.

The Supreme Court allowed for transgender individuals to be declared a socially and economically backward class, which entitled them to reservations in education and jobs, and allowed welfare schemes to be set up for state support. This ruling also gave transgender people the right to legally change their gender without necessarily undergoing sex-reassignment treatments and mandated the recognition of a third non-binary gender on all official documents.

14. December 18^th, 2015: Another bill calling for the repeal of Section 377 is introduced by Shashi Tharoor but is rejected in parliament by majority vote.

15. February 2^nd, 2016: The Supreme Court decides to review the criminalisation of homosexual acts once again.

16. August 24^th, 2017: The Supreme Court declares Right to Privacy a Fundamental Right.

The Supreme Court unanimously declared an individual’s privacy to be a right protected by the Constitution, expressly recognising the right to privacy in one’s sexual choices. This law protects an individual’s sexual preferences from the scrutiny of the state, giving one the freedom to safely and openly express one’s sexual orientation. However, participation in homosexual acts was still prohibited. Though this judgement did not overturn any laws criminalising same-sex relations, it most likely had an impact on the pending petitions before the Supreme Court against Section 377.

17. September 6^th, 2018: Same-sex carnal relations are finally decriminalised by the Supreme Court.

In the landmark case of Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India thr. Secretary Ministry Of Law and Justice, Section 377 IPC was unanimously declared as unconstitutional and in direct violation of fundamental rights and finally struck down. This was a huge step forward for the LGBTQ+ community in India and was widely celebrated across the country despite the social backlash.

‘History owes an apology to the members of this community and their families, for the delay in providing redressal for the ignominy and ostracism that they have suffered through the centuries.’ Justice Indu Malhotra on Section 377.

18. December 5^th, 2019: Transgender Persons Act is passed by the Indian Parliament.

The Transgender Persons Act, 2019 was passed with the objective of protecting the rights of transgender people and their welfare. This act was vehemently rejected by the transgender community because of several clauses that were detrimental to their fundamental rights, including reversing the decision to allow them to change their gender without being subjected to screening, excluding intersex and gender-queer persons, and culturally insensitivity towards the Hijra community. However, the act was passed anyway leading to protests and outrage from the Indian LGBTQ+ community.

19. July 15^th, 2019: Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill is introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The Surrogacy Bill was a controversial bill passed by the Lok Sabha that places restrictions and regulations on the practice of surrogacy in India. This bill fails to include same-sex couples or single parents in its criteria for those eligible to have a child through surrogacy. Currently in India, same-sex couples are not legally recognised and hence cannot legally adopt children, taking away their ability to have children via surrogacy. While this bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, the case is still pending judgement from the Rajya Sabha, only after which it can be recognised as enforceable law.

RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY SUPPORT

1. https://www.lgbteventsindia.com/lgbt-groups-in-india/
2. https://www.instagram.com/queeriousbits/
3. https://instagram.com/anchorbitspilani?igshid=bnxsa2c0rt8 

LIST OF SOURCES 

1. Tiwari, Nityanand, “Homosexuality in India: Review of Literatures”. SSRN, 19 Sept. 2010, https://ssrn.com/abstract=1679203  
2. Mukherjee, Nairita, “Shakuntala Devi’s Life Changed After Marrying a Gay Man: The Human Behind the Human Computer”. IndiaDesk, 6 Nov. 2019, https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/people/story/shakuntala-devi-s-life-changed-after-marrying-a-gay-man-the-human-behind-the-human-computer-1616260-2019-11-06
3. Devi, Shakuntala. The World of Homosexuals. New Delhi, Vikas Publishing House, 1977. 160pp
4. Livia, Anna, and Kira Hall. Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality, E-Book, Oxford University, 1997, Pg 431. 
5. Aggarwal, Shobha.“India: Reminiscing Abva’s Struggle For Gay Rights in the Twentieth Century – A Brief History Of That Time”. South Asia Citizens Web, 1 Sept. 2018,  http://www.sacw.net/article13888.html
6. “Eunuchs Get Voting Rights in India”. UPI, 7 Nov. 1994, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/11/07/Eunuchs-get-voting-rights-in-India/1844784184400
7. Fernandez, Bina, ed. Humjinsi. A Resource Book on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Rights in India. Mumbai: India Centre for Human Rights and Law, 1999, p. 35.
8. Dave, Naisargi. Queer Activism in India: A Story in the Anthropology of Ethics. Duke University Press, 2012, p. 173
9. Krishnan, Vidya. “How the Lgbtq Rights Movement in India Gained Momentum”. The Hindu, https://www.thehindu.com/society/its-been-a-long-long-time-for-the-lgbtq-rights-movement-in-india/article24408262.ece
10. ‘Less Than Gay’, AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan, 1991: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1585664/less-than-gay-a-citizens-report-on-the-status-of.pdf
11. Yengkhom, Sumati. “First Pride Walk: City Of Joy Opened the Closet with Country’s First Pride Walk”. The Times of India,  7 Sept. 2018, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/city-of-joy-opened-the-closet-with-countrys-first-pride-walk/articleshow/65714875.cms 
12. “India: Section 377 and Naz Foundation (India) Trust V. Government NCT Delhi”, 27 Jul. 2009, https://outrightinternational.org/content/india-section-377-and-naz-foundation-india-trust-v-government-nct-delhi
13. Shah, Ajit. “Naz Foundation V. Government Of Nct Of New Delhi” India Kanoon, 2 Jul 2009, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/100472805
14. “Naz Foundation V. Government Of Nct Of New Delhi and Others,” ESCR-Net, https://www.escr-net.org/caselaw/2009/naz-foundation-v-government-nct-new-delhi-and-others-wpc-no-74552001
15. Krishnan, Murali. “Supreme Court sets aside Delhi High Court judgment in Naz Foundation; Declares S.377 to be Constitutional” One More Step, 11 Dec. 2013, https://archive.vn/20131211173739/http://barandbench.com/comment/44159%23.UqifDPRDtrA 
16. “Secretary General of UN Ban Ki-moon calls for equality for LGBTQ+ individuals.” The Economic Times, 12 Dec. 2013, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/un-chief-ban-ki-moon-calls-for-equality-for-lesbians-gays-and-bisexuals/articleshow/27239908.cms
17.  Mahapatra, Dhananjay. “How SC’s Section 377 Approach Took a 180° Turn.” The Economic Times, 9 Jan. 2018, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/how-scs-section-377-approach-took-a-180-turn/articleshow/62424132.cms
18. Special Correspondent. “Homosexuality Not an Illness: Indian Psychiatric Society.” The Hindu, 12 Jul. 2018, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/homosexuality-not-an-illness-indian-psychiatric-society/article24401307.ece
19. Taneja, Richa. “Homosexuality Not A Disorder, Says Indian Psychiatric Society.”  NDTV, 10 Jul. 2018, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/homosexuality-not-a-disorder-says-indian-psychiatric-society-1880806
20. Pandey, Geeta. “India Court Recognises Transgender People As Third Gender.” BBC News, 15 Apr. 2014, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27031180#:~:text=India’s%20Supreme%20Court%20has%20recognised,as%20neither%20male%20nor%20female.
21. “Shashi Tharoor’s Bill To Decriminalise Homosexuality Defeated in Lok Sabha.” The Indian Express, 18 Dec. 2015, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/shashi-tharoors-bill-to-decriminalise-homosexuality-defeated-in-ls/
22. “Shashi Tharoor’s Bill To Decriminalise Homosexuality Defeated in Lok Sabha” uploaded by The Quint, 11 Mar. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWRkVbdmmEw
23. Anand, Utkarsh. “Supreme Court Agrees To Revisit Law Criminalizing Homosexuality.” The Indian Express, 3 Feb. 2016, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-petition-on-section-377-refers-matter-to-five-judge-bench/
24. Tarafder, Agnidipto and Arindrajit Basu. “For the Many and the Few: What a Fundamental Right To Privacy Means For India.” The Wire, 25 Aug. 2017, https://thewire.in/government/right-to-privacy-supreme-court-2
25. Mahapatra, Dhananjay and Amit Anand Choudhary. “Right To Privacy Is a Fundamental Right, It Is Intrinsic To Right To Life: Supreme Court”: The Times Of India, 24 Aug. 2017, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/right-to-privacy-is-a-fundamental-right-supreme-court/articleshow/60203394.cms
26. Rautray Samanwaya. “Section 377: Supreme Court Rewrites History, Homosexuality No Longer a Crime.” The Economic Times, 6 Sept. 2018 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sc-delivers-historic-verdict-section-377-gone-being-gay-no-more-a-crime-in-india/articleshow/65696771.cms?from=mdr 
27. “Supreme Court Decriminalises Section 377: All You Need To Know” The Times Of India, 6 Sept. 2018, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sc-verdict-on-section-377-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/65695884.cms 
28. “History Owes Apology To Lgbt Community and Kin: Justice Indu Malhotra”. The Economic Times, 6 Sept. 2018, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/history-owes-apology-to-lgbt-community-and-kin-justice-indu-malhotra/articleshow/65708442.cms?from=mdr 
29. “The Transgender Persons Act, 2019”. Social Justice, 5 Dec. 2019, http://socialjustice.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/TG%20bill%20gazette.pdf  
30. Glauert Rik. “Controversial Transgender Bill To Be Reintroduced To India’s Parliament.” GayStarNews, 6 Jun. 2019, https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/controversial-transgender-bill-to-be-reintroduced-to-indias-parliament/  
31. “Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019” http://164.100.47.5/committee_web/BillFile/Bill/70/137/156-C%20of%202019_2019_12_12.pdf