Historical background of the developments related to same sex marriage in India.

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  • Homosexual intercourse was made a criminal offense under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
  • In 2009, the Delhi High Court decision in Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi found Section 377 and other legal prohibitions against private, adult, consensual, and non-commercial same-sex conduct to be in direct violation of fundamental rights provided by the Indian Constitution.
  • On 23 February 2012, the Ministry of Home Affairs expressed its opposition to the decriminalization of homosexual activity, stating that in India, homosexuality is seen as being immoral.
  • On 28 February 2012, The Central Government reversed its stand and stated that there was no legal error in decriminalizing homosexual activity.
  • On 11 December 2013, the Supreme Court set aside the 2009 Delhi High Court order decriminalizing consensual homosexual activity within its jurisdiction.
  • In 2013, when the Supreme Court sounded out Parliament to read down section 377, the political leadership ducked.
  • Two years later, a majority of lawmakers blocked even any discussion on a bill brought by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to scrap the section.
  • On January 28, 2014 Supreme Court dismissed the review Petition filed by Central Government, NGO Naz Foundation and several others, against its December 11 verdict on Section 377 of IPC.
  • On December 18, 2015, Shashi Tharoor, a member of the Indian National Congress party, introduced the bill for the decriminalization of Section 377, but the bill was rejected by the house by a vote of 71-24.
  • On February 2, 2016, the Supreme Court decided to review criminalization of homosexual activity.
  • In 2016, Kerala mooted free sex-reassignment surgeries in Government hospitals after it introduced the first State government policy on transgender people.
  • In February 2017, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare introduced resource material relating to health issues to be used as a part of a nationwide adolescent peer-education plan called Saathiya.
  • Among other subjects, the material discusses homosexuality.
  • The text states the fact that it is quite normal to fell attracted for a friend or any individual of the same or opposite sex.

This initiative aims at cultivating a positive attitude towards queer theory and irradiating homophobia.

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