by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
India's national government will not oppose the July ruling by the Delhi High Court that decriminalized gay sex nationwide.
Other, mostly religious entities have appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, but the government said Sept. 1 that it will not join in.
"This is a really important signal to the Supreme Court on how the government would like this case to proceed," said correspondent Vikram Doctor.
"This doesn't mean it's over," he added. "The Supreme Court case has become a bit of a circus with a whole bunch of people, mostly religious leaders, falling over themselves to file petitions opposing the Delhi High Court verdict. … Some might have backing from evangelicals abroad."
Given India's huge population – nearly 1.2 billion – the Delhi ruling had the effect of decriminalizing, in one fell swoop, 17 percent of the world's gay people.
