BBC: On Tuesday, India's Supreme Court refused to legalise same-sex marriage, disappointing millions of LGBTQ+ couples and activists. While these unions may still not have legal sanction in India, they were far from rare even centuries ago, experts say.
When author and activist Ruth Vanita attended and taught at the Delhi University - from the 1970s to 1996 - "same-sex love was almost never mentioned in the academy".
Around the same time, she was active in the women's movement, and found that a "similar silence prevailed then in feminist politics as well, both left-wing and right-wing".
"Many of the leading activists in women's groups were lesbians, but they never mentioned or discussed this in activist forums," Prof Vanita, who now teaches at University of Montana, wrote in a 2004 essay.
Fourteen years later, in a historic decision, India's Supreme Court ruled that gay sex was no longer a criminal offence, overturning a 2013 judgement that upheld a colonial-era law - known as section 377 - under which gay sex was categorised as an "unnatural offence".
While some in India voiced concerns that the repeal of the colonial-era law was driving the country toward the adoption of Western ideals of liberalism, Prof Vanita's argument was that history actually demonstrates the contrary. » | Soutik Biswas, India correspondent | Wednesday, October 18, 2023
India Supreme Court declines to legalise same-sex marriage: India's Supreme Court has declined to legalise same-sex unions, dashing the hopes of millions of LGBTQ+ people seeking marriage equality. »
