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India's relationship with homosexuality has changed over time. Hinduism, its primary religion, was historically tolerant of same-sex love, but after British colonizers introduced their more conservative laws and ways of thinking, stigma began to build.

Section 377, a relic of Victorian England, was laid down in India in 1861, and says that “whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature” can be punished with up to 10 years in prison.

India gained independence from Britain in 1947 but the statute remained on the books until 2009 when it was struck down — only to be reinstated four years later.

Although the law is not often invoked to jail people, the threat of it is used as a tool of repression, blackmail and extortion by society and by law enforcement.

\"The very presence of Section 377 is a threat to our dignity and life,\" Rituparna Borah, a queer feminist activist, told ABC. \"Queer people are blackmailed and stigmatized everyday, even by the police.\"

\"PHOTO:
Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
PHOTO: A member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community celebrates India's Supreme Court decision to strike down a colonial-era ban on gay sex, in Mumbai on Sept. 6, 2018.
>

Anjali Gopalan, who heads Naz Foundation, the organization that spearheaded the fight against Section 377, told ABC she first began the legal battle in 2001 on realizing the law was getting in the way of social reform efforts.

\"When we gave out condoms, for example, we had to face constant interference by authorities,\" she said. \"Our workers were harassed. Complaints were filed against us. They told us we were carrying out illegal activity.\"

The last straw was when a young, traumatized queer man came to Naz India for help. \"His parents had taken him to hospital where they gave him shock treatment to try and 'cure' him,\" she said.

\"PHOTO:
Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
PHOTO: People in New Delhi celebrate India's Supreme Court decision striking down a colonial-era ban on gay sex in Mumbai on Sept. 6, 2018.
>

And thus began the 17-year long struggle against Section 377 -- with bumps along the way. The law's ban on gay sex was struck down by the Delhi High Court in 2009, then reinstated as a criminal offense in 2013 by the Supreme Court, which said that only a “minuscule fraction of the country’s population\" would be affected and reprimanded the high court for \"overreaching\" in its \"anxiety to protect the so-called rights of LGBT persons.\"

Dalmia, the hotelier and chef, said the idea held by the judges that those affected were an invisible minority shocked her and motivated her to publicly join the renewed legal fight. Already a well-known name among the country's social circles, she decided to lend her influence to the cause.

\"When the judge implied that there were not many victims, I couldn't believe it,\" she said. \"I realized we all sit and complain but things won't change if someone doesn't do something.\"

Dalmia and her partner had been together for a long time, but they couldn't be married, their health insurance wouldn't accept the other as family, and they couldn't get joint bank accounts.

But now, she said, a new chapter in the fight against such injustice was beginning.

\"PHOTO:
Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
PHOTO: People celebrate the Supreme Court decision to strike down a colonial-era ban on gay sex, in Mumbai, India on Sept. 6, 2018.
>

Not everyone was on board with the verdict.

“It’s shameful,” said Swami Chakrapani, president of All India Hindu Mahasabha, a conservative Hindu group, the New York Times reported. “We are giving credibility and legitimacy to mentally sick people.”

And that's why activists must prepare for the uphill battle that combating homophobia will present, said Iyer, the activist.

\"Changing the law is only the first step, the bigger task is changing hearts and minds,\" he said. \"We want freedom from bullying, protection against workplace discrimination, recognition of civil partnerships. We want equality not in part, but in totality.\"

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