LGBTQ Indians still haunted by trauma in years since nation lifted gay sex ban, says judge

Indu Malhotra was part of the five-judge bench that ended the gay sex ban in 2018 but says LGBTQ Indians still face persecution and discrimination today

PM Narendra Modi’s government has opposed legalising same-sex marriage, an issue that India’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on in the coming weeks

Reading Time:2 minutes

People march in a pride parade in New Delhi. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:00am, 7 Sep 2023

Five years since India legalised gay sex, persistent discrimination means many LGBTQ Indians continue to suffer “mental trauma and alienation”, said one of the Supreme Court judges who lifted the ban.

Indu Malhotra was part of the five-judge constitutional bench that in 2018 unanimously struck down part of Section 377, a law introduced by India’s former British colonial rulers that had stood for almost 160 years.

Malhotra, who is now retired and was only the seventh woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, said the September 6, 2018 ruling marked “the most momentous day of my career as a judge”.

“The court was packed with people from the LGBTQ community and also some of their parents. There was so much emotion, it was such an atmosphere … There was so much revelry and relief,” she said in an interview by phone from Delhi.

But Malhotra said that while the ruling had ushered in greater acceptance in the cities, LGBTQ Indians still face persecution and the hangover of decades of discrimination, including deep psychological scars.