Everyone must have heard about the verdict. Its amazing, an unbelievable culmination of an eight year struggle (and the start of another one, but we do have this win). What is even more amazing is the historic terms in which Chief Justice A.P.Shah of the Delhi High Court framed his decision. He invoked the words of Jawaharlal Nehru when he said that the idea of India was to be inclusive of everyone. Just the fact that some people did not like a minority was not sufficient to treat those minorities as criminals. And in the spirit of the Indian Constitution he ruled that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code no longer applied to what consenting adults did in private. A side note: this judgment is particularly historic because it strikes down a law that was first applied in India by the British and then taken across the world, where it has harassed countless people. Today the Delhi High Court has struck down this law at its root and we hope this sends a message both to the Indian government and governments across the world. Congratulations to everyone who has been part of this long, hard, but ultimately victorious battle. Vikram
