Will India make homosexuality legal again?

India may be on the road to making life a lot easier for our queer brothers and sisters.

India’s top court, the Supreme Court, agreed to re-examine a colonial-era law that makes homosexual acts punishable by up to a decade in prison.

In 2009, a New Delhi High Court declared sex between the same gender unconstitutional in Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which says it is against the order of nature. Four years later when the Supreme Court decided that amending or repealing the law should be left to Parliament, not the judiciary.

When Parliamant did not act on the matter, the Supreme court took back the power, or is trying as they set up a five-judge panel to reconsider its 2013 ruling.

Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and two other judges said it would be appropriate to refer the issue to a five-judge panel because it involved important issues concerning the country’s constitution.

Although being gay is often seen as shameful in these countries, India has certainly grown when it comes it to LGBT issues. Let’s hope this is the next step in its progression.