Overview

Homosexual intercourse was a criminal offence until 2009 under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code

Indian Penal Code

Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...

, 1860. This made it an offence for a person to voluntarily have "carnal intercourse against the order of nature." This law was struck down by the 2009 Supreme Court decision Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi

Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi

Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi is a landmark Indian case decided by a two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court, which held that treating consensual homosexual sex between adults as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's Constitution.- Background :Section 377 of...

, which found Section 377 and other legal prohibitions against same-sex conduct to be in direct violation of fundamental rights provided by the Indian Constitution.

Whilst convictions under Section 377 were rare, with no convictions at all for homosexual intercourse in the twenty years to 2009, Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

 have said that the law was used to harass HIV/AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 prevention activists, as well as sex worker

Sex worker

A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...

s, men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves; many men choose not to accept sexual identities of homosexual or bisexual...

, and other LGBT groups. The group documents arrests in Lucknow

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

 of four men in 2006 and another four in 2001. The People's Union for Civil Liberties

People's Union for Civil Liberties

People's Union for Civil Liberties is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights .-The indian emergency:...

 has published two reports of the rights violations faced by sexual minorities and, in particular, transsexuals (hijras and kothis) in India.

Decisions of a High Court on the constitutionality of a law apply throughout India, and not just to the territory of the state over which the High Court in question has jurisdiction. However, even after the pronouncement of verdict, there have been (rare) incidents of harassment of homosexual groups.

Law regarding same-sex sexual activity

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code

Chapter XVI, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is a piece of legislation in India introduced during British rule of India that criminalises sexual activity "against the order of nature." The section was read down to decriminalise same-sex behaviour among consenting adults in a historic...

 was struck down in 2009 for consensual adults. The law continues to apply in the cases involving minors and coercive sex.

The age of consent for both male and female homosexual sex is 18.

Recognition of same-sex relationships

Same-sex marriages are not legal in India. But that did not stop a Gurgaon court from effectively recognising a marriage between two lesbians.

Since marrying, the couple started receiving threats from friends and relatives in their village.

Their lawyer said the court had served notice on 14 of Veena's relatives and villagers who had threatened them with "dire consequences".

Haryana has been the centre of widespread protests by villagers who believe their village councils, or khaps should be allowed to impose their own punishments on those who disobey their rulings or break local traditions – mainly honour killings of those who marry within their own gotra or sub-caste, regarded in the state as akin to incest.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr. Abhe Singh told The Daily Telegraph: "The couple has been shifted to a safe house and we have provided adequate security to them on the court orders. The security is provided on the basis of threat perception and in this case the couple feared that their families might be against the relationship."

The couple did win family approval eventually. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-17/gurgaon/29895807_1_police-protection-lesbian-couple-beena-and-savita

Adoption and family planning

No legal prohibitions or allowances for adoption or family planning by same-sex couples.

Discrimination protections

No known anti-discrimination protections exist for sexual orientation or gender identity.

Summary

Same-sex sexual activity legal	(since 2009)
Equal age of consent
Anti-discrimination laws in employment
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech)
Same-sex marriage	(one single case in 2011)
Recognition of same-sex couples
Both joint and step adoption by same-sex couples	?
Gays allowed to serve in the military	?
Right to change legal gender	?
Access to IVF for lesbians
MSM Men who have sex with men Men who have sex with men are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves; many men choose not to accept sexual identities of homosexual or bisexual... s allowed to donate blood