India Decriminalizes Gay Sex in Landmark Ruling India's Supreme Court has struck down a law criminalizing consensual gay sex, Upon the court’s announcement Thursday, crowds cheered and rights activists hugged one another, overcome with emotion. Section 377, a law imposed during British rule that penalized intercourse "against the order of nature," The law was rarely enforced in full, but lawyers said that it helped enforce a culture of fear and repression within the LGBT community. Bismaya Kumar Raula, rights campaigner, via CNN