India reinstates colonial era law making homosexuality illegal

In a staggering backward step for India as the country tries to position itself as a major power in the world, homosexuality has been re-criminalized in India.  The colonial era law was reinstated after the Supreme Court today reversed a 2009 ruling by the Delhi High Court and declared that only the national legislature can legalize gay sex.

From Reuters:

India's Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated a ban on gay sex in the world's largest democracy, following a four-year period of decriminalization that had helped bring homosexuality into the open in the socially conservative country.

In 2009 the Delhi High Court ruled unconstitutional a section of the penal code dating back to 1860 that prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" and lifted the ban for consenting adults.

The Supreme Court threw out that decision, saying only parliament could change Section 377 of the penal code, widely interpreted to refer to homosexual sex. Violation of the law can be punished with up to 10 years in jail. The move shocked rights activists around the world, who had expected the court simply to rubber-stamp the earlier ruling. In recent years, India's Supreme Court has made progressive rulings on several issues such as prisoners' rights and child labor.