31–40 of 178 posts
Note that same sex marriage is still not legalised! We still have a long way to go before the idea of a same-sex couple becomes commonplace in our society.
Wait. Gay sex is legalized, but not marriage. That's so un-Indian-like
Something to note here is that it is not just gay sex that is legalised - the prohibition was on "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" which included straight anal sex as well as oral sex. Of course, these are less important as this was never enforced, but weird to think that these things were technically illegal.
Edit: I'm not sure Wikipedia [1] agrees with you. The original law was:
> Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life
So bestiality seems to have been prohibited initially. The judgement [2] says:
> Section 377 of the Penal Code, in so far as it criminalises consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex, is unconstitutional
So I'm not sure it decriminalizes anal and oral heterosexual sex as well.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_377_of_the_Indian_Pena...
[2] https://www.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2016/14961/14961_2016_Ju... page 442 (labelled 180)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's still illegal to own more than six dildos in Texas.
Not true since 2004 anymore. And apparently was only against promoting dildos. Source: https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/feb/09/al...
Note that same sex marriage is still not legalised! We still have a long way to go before the idea of a same-sex couple becomes commonplace in our society.
Wait. Gay sex is legalized, but not marriage. That's so un-Indian-like
Something to note here is that it is not just gay sex that is legalised - the prohibition was on "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" which included straight anal sex as well as oral sex. Of course, these are less important as this was never enforced, but weird to think that these things were technically illegal.
The phrase "legalises gay sex" is surreal and otherworldly to me. We recent fought for marriage in Australia. Shocking to think they were and are still so backwards as to make that headline possible.
There is more history to this. The introduction of the law relating to making gay sex illegal "... dating back to 1861, (that was) introduced during the British rule of India (modelled on the Buggery Act of 1533) criminalised sexual activities "against the order of nature", including homosexual activities" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_377_of_the_Indian_Pena... It is the truth for a lot of countries that were…
Couldn't agree more. Having said that, I'm not sure the "blame the colonials" is vastly better. For at least 2 reasons:
1) One of the laws the Penal Code replaced required death by stoning as a punishment (unless you were a slave in which case you were just flogged). As poor as the law was, it wasn't really replacing an enlightened legal framework.
2) Post-colonial India didn't exactly rush to replace the law. The first attempt wasn't until 2009, and that was overturned.
The simple truth is that, even supposedly liberal, countries have made these changes disappointingly recently. Personally, I'm glad this is happening but blaming others for the slow progress is somewhat disingenuous.
I don't think this will last, not even in the west.
The phrase "legalises gay sex" is surreal and otherworldly to me. We recent fought for marriage in Australia. Shocking to think they were and are still so backwards as to make that headline possible.
In Germany, the infamous §175a StGB that made gay sex illegal was only finally removed in 1994. I think it was practically ignored for some time before that, but that was only 24 years ago. And yes, it feels just as unreal to me.
>Although same-sex sexual activity was a capital crime that often resulted in the death penalty during the Ancien Régime, all sodomy laws were repealed in 1791 during the French Revolution. However, a lesser known indecent exposure law that often targeted homosexuals was introduced in 1960 before being repealed twenty years later.
So vive la révolution I guess.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What? So you think that gay sex should be illegal?
Nobody said that. I think the cup of tea I'm drinking won't last, yet I don't think cups of tea should be illegal. Edit to update: The cup of did indeed did not last, and is now gone. I still don't think a cup of tea should be illegal.