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  It's OK to be gay, Indian court rules
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ContributorMonsieur 
Last EditedMonsieur  Jul 02, 2009 10:38am
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CategoryLegal Ruling
AuthorMuneeza Naqvi
News DateThursday, July 2, 2009 04:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionNEW DELHI — A court passed a groundbreaking ruling Thursday decriminalizing homosexuality in the Indian capital, a decision that could bring more freedom for gays in this deeply conservative country.

The Delhi High Court ruled that treating consensual gay sex as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's constitution. The ruling, the first of its kind in India, applies only in New Delhi.

``I'm so excited and I haven't been able to process the news yet,'' Anjali Gopalan, the executive director of the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, a sexual health organization that had filed the petition, told reporters.

``We've finally entered the 21st century.''

But some religious leaders quickly criticized the ruling. ``This Western culture cannot be permitted in our country,'' said Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali, a leading Muslim cleric in the northern city of Lucknow.

The court's verdict came more than eight years after the New Delhi-based foundation filed its petition — not unusually long in India's notoriously clogged court system. The verdict can be challenged in India's Supreme Court.
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