Same-Sex Love and Indian Penal Code § 377: An Important Human Rights Issue for India

Same-Sex Love and Indian Penal Code § 377: An Important Human Rights Issue for India

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Volume 4 Issue 1 ()

The paper discusses the relatively new phenomena of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”, the reasons why criminalisation of same-sex sexual activity by IPC §377 is an important human rights issue for India, the roots of §377 in Christian religious law, and the repeal of its equivalent in English criminal law. It then examines the trends in international and comparative human rights law that would support a decision by the Supreme Court of India to affirm the Delhi High Court’s “reading down” of §377 as not applying to private, consensual, adult sexual activity.
Cite as: Robert Wintemute, Same-Sex Love and Indian Penal Code § 377: An Important Human Rights Issue for India, 4 NUJS L. Rev. 31 (2011)