In India, Section 377 of the Penal Code has, since 1871, criminalized sexual activity “against the order of nature”—which has been widely interpreted as banning gay sex. While prosecutions under Section 377 have been rare in recent history, the law is often used to blackmail, harass or shame gay people back into the closet, ultimately reinforcing a culture of homophobia in India.

Section 377, like anti-gay laws on the books in 37 other countries, is a legacy of British colonial rule. But, says Shahani, India is historically and culturally inclusive of same-sex love. “Anyone who’s studied Indian culture, mythology, history and poetry, or who’s looked at our country and this region over the past 500 or more years will tell you that we’re a deeply inclusive society where there have been places for queerness,” Shahani says. “It’s ridiculous that we would cling to a colonial relic and pretend that’s where Indian culture is.”

The Delhi High Court actually struck down Section 377 and decriminalized homosexuality in a landmark decision in 2009 — only to have the ruling overturned by the Supreme Court in 2013. “It was horrific that they reversed the decision, but also the language they used was so horrible that the queer community was stunned into silence for a while,” Shahani says.

“It’s ridiculous that we would cling to a colonial relic and pretend that’s where Indian culture is.”

But earlier this year, after a number of high-profile petitions, including from Bharatanatyam dancer Navtej Singh Johar and hotelier Aman Nath, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments against Section 377 once again. “The petitions argued before the Supreme Court were based on right to privacy, right to dignity, right to life,” Shahani says. “Our constitution gives us these basic rights, and they argued — magnificently — that 377 is counter to all of them.”

Now, Shahani nervously but optimistically awaits the decision. “Everything we’ve seen coming out of the court — including the statement by all the Supreme Court judges themselves — point to the fact that it will be a unanimous five-zero agreement of the Supreme Court judges that 377 has to go,” he says.

Shahani hopes that if Section 377 is in fact overturned, it will pave the way for a more inclusive corporate culture in India. “I work with corporations, and a lot of companies are progressive and want to promote equality at work,” Shahani says. “But a lot of them have believed, erroneously, that because 377 exists, if they promote inclusion they’ll be doing something illegal.”

Shahani has pushed other organizations in India to adopt LGBTQ employee benefits like same-sex partner benefits, transgender surgery and paid family leave. Today, he estimates that there are around 40 companies in India with truly LGBTQ-inclusive policies. But, he says, there’s much more work to be done.

“The last few years of struggle have brought LGBTQ communities together strategically,” Shahani says. “I hope that as we win this legal battle, and when we gather in future to work further for the kind of queer India we want to create, we do it in solidarity, recognizing the diversity that exists within our community. I hope we don’t just celebrate and then go back to our own silos.”

If tomorrow does in fact bring about a historic victory for gay rights, Shahani says he will celebrate in his own special way. ‘I’m actually not going to throw a party,” he says. “I’m going to curl up on my couch with my partner and watch Netflix, like we always do when we’re at home together. Except that we’ll be curling up and watching Netflix as legal people in our own country, and that will have its own pleasure.”

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