While many laws were retained within the Indian legal code after Britain was evicted from the country, three laws continued to leave a detrimental impact on Indian society and culture.

The first of these three laws is Section 377 which “criminalizes carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal.” To simplify, this law essentially makes being homosexual, whether man or woman, a crime. The origins of this law in the English legal code date back to 1533 when homosexual intercourse was outlawed as a result of the Buggery Act.

Consequently, Section 377 of the Indian legal code was probably also introduced because the English imported their legal code into India during the 19th century. Unlike Britain, which removed the English law banning homosexual intercourse in 1967 and even legalized homosexual marriage recently in 2014, India has not seen fit to take similar steps.

Source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306422014537155

While Section 377 has finally been repeated in 2018, the fact that it took a considerable amount of time has had long-lasting consequences. As a result of the long history of this law, hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) people in India are still forced to hide their true nature. Furthermore, while physical homosexual relationships are now legal, India still has not legalized homosexual marriage. As a result, in a globalized society that is gradually becoming more progressive, the repression of people for their innate sexuality is reprehensible. As recently as 2020, India’s solicitor general has stated that “our laws, our legal system, our society, and our values do not recognize the marriage, which is a sacrament, between same-sex couples.”

Although a case for recognizing same-sex marriages will appear before the Indian High Court in 2021, it remains to be seen whether it will be successful. Until then, the ramifications of Section 377 continue to resonate within modern Indian society.

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