Naz Foundation to file review petition against SC order on section 377

Naz Foundation has said that it will file a petition seeking a review of the Supreme Court’s Wednesday judgement, in which the apex court upheld the validity of Indian Penal Code’s Section 377 , which makes gay sex a criminal offence.

The apex court’s order came in response to several petitions by anti-gay rights activists and social and religious organisations challenging a historic 2009 Delhi High Court order which decriminalised gay sex.  

Human rights and gay activists as well as supporters and members of LGBT community were left aghast by the Supreme Court’s judgement, with many calling it a black day for freedom and equal rights. They’ve organisaed a protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday evening.

Naz Foundation, which had moved the Delhi High Court seeking consensual sex between two adults in private be exempted from Section 377, expressed its disappointment with the Supreme Court’s order and said that protests will be organised in several cities to build pressure on the court.

“Why did the Supreme Court ask the LGBT community to go to the Parliament? Then why did it rule on 2G, why did it rule on red batti?” probed Anand Grover of Naz Foundation.

Despite the jolt, Voices Behind 377’s Gautam Bhan put forward a brave face. “We’ve faced the terror of not knowing who we are at the age of 15,” said Bhan, “We can deal with this too,” said Bhan, author of Because I Have a Voice: Queer Politics in India.