I have been staring at the news piece which quotes Home Minister of Karnataka V.S. Acharya, as having said that homosexuality is unnatural. Another prominent political figure says that the LGBT community needs medical attention and not legal sanction. The Sree Rama Sene is determined to hold 'awareness' camps in college campuses. Well, I have gay and lesbian friends, most of who lead a secret double life. Will the new verdict help them? I remember my college days, when any student rumoured to have a homosexual preference was insulted, hounded and made an outcast. And the thugs who sanctioned these atrocities had neither politics, religion nor any scientific reason whatsoever to support their 'cause'. It was simply one of those scenarios where various groups forget their differences and unite on a common propaganda of hatred towards somebody or something. Logic simply does not work with them. They despise gay men and women, and that is simply the way it is.

I think I was on my way to work when a friend told me about the Delhi High Court's verdict on gay sex with regard to Section 377 of the IPC. The law, which criminalised consensual sexual acts of adults in private, enacted by the British in 1860, had continued to exist in the law books of Independent India long after it was removed from those of England. After 62 years of Independence and an eight-year-long legal battle (initiated by NGOs), the Indian judiciary has finally acknowledged that members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual) community are, after all, human beings. Isn't that reason enough to celebrate? I suppose it is. But then again, I remain skeptical.

The Hindu and Muslim and religious heads were quick to denounce the High Court verdict (and predictably so), while politicians warned that the Indian society was not 'ready' for such liberal attitudes. Nevertheless, Friday's newspapers and tabloids screamed 'liberation' of the homosexual masses.

Really? Do we really believe that a single law can successfully wipe out India's deeply-rooted religious beliefs and prejudices? Do we really think that our friends would be able to lead openly gay lives without facing humiliation and suffering discrimination? Would this help the transsexuals find jobs? Is this going to help the lesbian and gay youth of the country, reveal their sexual preferences to their own families? Is the verdict going to make the LGBT community accepted in our society? I guess only time can tell. Until then, we have work to do.