British Raj 'Victorian Prudery' to Blame for Indian Gay Sex Ban

British Raj 'Victorian Prudery' to Blame for Indian Gay Sex Ban

India's attorney-general has blamed the 'Victorian prudery' of the British Raj for the law which banned homosexual relations.
By Dean Nelson
23 Mar 2012

His comments were made as the Supreme Court finally lifted a ban on gay sex more than 60 years after Indian independence.

India's chief law officer G. E Vahanvati told the court that India had always taken a liberal attitude towards homosexuals and had in fact celebrated their sexuality in temple sculptures and carvings portraying acts of oral and group sex.

"Homosexuals were also free to satisfy their fancies in India whereas in Britain they were widely despised and buggery was a capital crime until 1961," he said, quoting a book on the British Raj.

"Indian society prevalent before the enactment of the [British] Indian Penal Code [in 1860] had a much greater tolerance for homosexuality than its British counterpart, which at this time was under the influence of Victorian morality and values in regard to family and the procreative nature of sex," he argued. more