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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Section 377: A British legacy from which we have finally broken free -Adrija Roychowdhury

Section 377: A British legacy from which we have finally broken free -Adrija Roychowdhury

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published Published on Sep 6, 2018   modified Modified on Sep 6, 2018
-The Indian Express

The century-old the law against homosexuality was imposed on pre-independent India in accordance with the Christian principles on which the British kingdom was founded.

New Delhi:
India was introduced to the law against homosexuality almost 80 years before it became independent. At its zenith, the British Empire as part of its ‘civilising mission’ imposed the criminal law of England, including the anti-sodomy law, on its colonies.  While the United Kingdom Parliament legalised homosexuality in England and Wales way back in 1967, and Scotland in 1980, several British colonies — India until today — are yet to junk the colonial-era law.

“The early history of England incorporated in its common law an offence of ‘sodomy’ in the context of the provision of protection against those who endangered the Christian principles on which the kingdom was founded,” writes Australian jurist and academic Michael Kirby in his article, “The sodomy offence: England’s least lovely criminal law export?”. This was back in the thirteenth century when England was yet to experience the Catholic Reformation and there were barely any lines distinguishing the Roman Church from the State. At this point in time, the law was targeted not just on homosexuality, but on any kind of sexual activity that was not done with the intention of procreation. Therefore, the law was directed towards anybody considered a ‘polluter’ including Jews, heretics, lepers, prostitutes, and sodomites.

When England experienced the Catholic reformation under Henry VII, and the English church severed its ties with Rome, the English common law had to be revised. The statute of 1533 considered sodomy a crime under the description of the “detestable and abominable Vice of Buggery committed with mankind or beast”. The Buggery Act of 1533 was the country’s first civil law against sodomy. The offence was made punishable by death.

Under the reign of Mary I who was the descendant of Henry VII, the statute was repealed with the intention that the Church would take decisions on such matters. However, it was re-enacted by Parliament under the reign of Elizabeth I in 1563. By now, a number of writers on English law wrote extensively on how grave the offence of sodomy is.

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The Indian Express, 6 September, 2018, https://indianexpress.com/article/research/section-377-a-british-legacy-from-which-we-have-finally-broken-free-5342898/


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