Protesters call SC judgment on Section 377 regressive

LUCKNOW: In Lucknow, Saleem Kidwai's is literally the lone voice that fights to decriminalize gay sex and demands freedom of choice for the city's LGBT community. The medieval historian and gay studies scholar finds plenty of support, but it is more from human rights activists than, overtly at least, from within the small and largely closeted LGBT community in Lucknow.
One such person told TOI, "When I heard the Supreme Court's judgment in the morning and then of the candlelight protest in the evening, my first reaction was not to participate. Then, I thought about the effort everyone had put into this and decided to come. There's also a general sense of unease that harassment, if we go public, will increase."
In a city that is already homophobic, the Supreme Court's judgment on Wednesday has only pushed back into the corner the few who were taking tentative first steps towards "coming out." There's no survey that enumerates the size of the LGBT community in the city, but Wednesday's protests were held with only single-digit participation from the community. Calling it a sad day for gay rights, Kidwai, author of 'Same Sex Love in India: Readings From Literature and History', said "the same courts that have struck down laws and called them unconstitutional are now referring us to parliament to fight for legitimacy. In other words, they're telling us we need not go to the courts to fight for human rights but to the legislature."
On Wednesday, the demand for decriminalising gay sex found support from over 100 people in the city. Few, though, will make the announcement publicly. Human rights activist Madhavi Kukreja said, "This is a completely regressive judgment that only perpetuates homophobia. It impinges on people's right to free expression of their sexuality. The fight for freedom, though, has only just begun. We will continue our protests."