In a positive sign that India is coming into the 21st century even while parts of the USA would prefer to remain in the 18th century - think Virginia - the Indian government has confirmed that it will not challenge the ruling by the Delhi High Court that struck down India's sodomy statute which dates back to the imperial days of the British Raj, The court previously ruled that the ban on homosexual acts between consenting adults violated India's constitution. Here are some highlights from The Advocate:*
According to a cabinet note obtained by the CNN-IBN network in India, the government decided not to contest the controversial ruling, which is being challenged in supreme court by antigay opponents including a popular yoga guru who claims that gay people can be “cured.”
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"The correctness of the Delhi high court judgment has been challenged in an appeal before the supreme court,” says the cabinet note. “The government may submit before the supreme court that there does not appear to be any legal error in the judgment and the supreme court may take a final view whether the judgment of the high court is legally correct."
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Government ministers also suggested that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed with their decision not to oppose the lower court’s ruling, according to CNN-IBN. Should the supreme court uphold the lower court’s groundbreaking ruling, the government will add an explanation to the sodomy law, Section 377 of the penal code, saying that it does not apply to consenting adults in private.
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Perhaps Bob McDonnell should read the analysis prepared by the Indian government so that he can hopefully better understand the concept of freedom of religion and separation of church and state.
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