Section 377: IIT-Bombay students celebrate Supreme Court's judgement

Students share their views on the judgment at the IIT-B campus on Thursday

As India erupted as one after the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, among the many celebrations all across was a small cake-cutting ceremony on the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), campus on Thursday night. Saathi, an LGBT resource group at the Powai institute, organised the party, which started with a small victory march.

After the SC verdict, there was celebration across the country. And the premier technology institute, which has an active resource group looking after making the institute an LGBT-inclusive campus, was no exception.

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Night-time cheer
As the word spread, there was much jubilation on campus with students gathering and planning a celebratory programme. Around 40 students participated in the event, which started with taking a victory march from Hostel 8 to the Shailesh J Mehta School of Management building, waving the Pride flag. The students also had Pride slogans prepared for the victory march - "1, 2, 3, 4, get out of closet door" and "5, 6, 7, 8, it is legal to not be straight" among others.

"It was a very short march, followed by a cake-cutting ceremony. The atmosphere was charged and lively," shared a participant, adding that even though there was no permission taken for the activity, nobody objected to it.

Another said, "We passed by other students during the march, but no one passed any derogatory comments or exude any negativity. This is a positive sign." According to students, as it was night-time, there was no point in putting up posters, due to the dark, and hence, they stuck to the flag and slogans.

Happy Saathi
Saathi representative Karan Nikam said, "The day was indeed filled with pride and joy as an Indian. I feel happy to share this victorious moment with fellow Saathi members and celebrate this ground-breaking judgment in the history of modern Indian jurisprudence. Hum ho GAYe kaamyaab!"

Several IITians had been part of the court battle - over 20 students had moved court, challenging section 377, under the umbrella of Pravritti, an informal pan-IIT LGBT group.

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