You know, as much as I like to look south into the USA and bemoan their restrictions of the rights of their gay citizens, as much as I criticize certain, openly homophobic, proud to be bigoted, unnamed, major news networks, owned by Rupert Murdock, and I am always looking for signs that Steven Harper's firebrand family values rhetoric is returning in our own country, it's pretty easy to forget sometimes that the United States and Canada's gay rights movement is far more advanced then a large portion of the world.
And, I'll point out, Canada is leaps and bounds further then the US, even with a "progressive" conservative government. All because Canadians are smarter, cleaner and better looking.
In research done by the International Lesbian & Gay Association in 2007, it found that it was illegal to commit, even consensual sex acts with a member of the same sex. Countries included on this list are Barbados, Jamaica, and until very recently, India.
That's right, a few months ago on the 25th of June 2009 a New Delhi High Court eliminated a 148 year old law that criminalized homosexual sex and forever crippled the Indian fashion industry. A conviction of "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," could carry a fine and a maximum of 10 years in jail.
The Indian government still retains the power to challenge the ruling in their supreme court, but it was announced today that by the Union Law Minister that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will make his official decision next week, will allow the ruling to stand.
A wide variety of religious groups have mounted their own appeal, but I choose to think that crazy people on a street corner screaming about god and the end of the world will not sway, what currently seems like, a steadfast and rational government.
This is a first of many steps, up a long winding staircase of political debate and religious arguments, and provoked public fear. We struggle with this today in our own culture and need to support India's process toward greater equality for all people.
While one of the worlds oldest civilizations moves toward tolerance, we must again look to ourselves and realize that even though, comparably, North America is light years ahead of many places, if all the crazy people like Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, and even Steven Harper get their way, then being gay could become a crime again.
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