This Twitter Thread By An LGBTQ Rights Activist Is Going Viral For All The Right Reasons

Congratulations India! The 6th of September 2018 will go down in history as the day we finally served justice to our sisters and brothers from the LGBTQ community. The nation rejoiced yesterday as love triumphed over years of prejudice. To say the decriminalisation of section 377 was long overdue is a major understatement. Hence, when the supreme court took the unanimous decision to do it, India celebrated like never before.

While only those who identify as LGBTQ can truly value the gravity of this new dawn, it is time that even those of us who do not, attempt to understand what this ruling means to them. And how best, than to hear it from someone who has felt ostracised from society due to his sexual orientation his whole life?

Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, this Twitter thread by law professor Danish Sheikh is a must read in the aftermath of this glorious triumph.

He gives us a peek into his life as a homosexual male in India, starting from when he first fell in love:

I was 13 when I first fell in love with a boy. I didn't realize it then. I only knew that I was willing to learn 9th grade Sanskrit without any prior knowledge of the language just to be in a class with him. (1/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

He goes on to talk about the second time he fell in love with a boy and finally realised what it was:

I was 16 when I fell in love with another boy. This time, I knew what it was, but was able to successfully convince myself it was a phase – or even better, that it was a one-off kind of love, that I'd just as easily fall for a woman. (2/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

I cannot even begin to imagine what that must’ve been like. The teenage years are confusing AF as it is without having to struggle with doubts about your sexuality.

He finally accepted to himself who he was at the age of 17:

I was 17 when I realized that I wasn't going to fall for women. That year, for the first time I spoke the words that would make the jigsaw confusion of the last 6 years fall into place. "I'm gay" I said, sitting in the dark, practicing the utterance. (3/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

However, at 18 he learned about the law that invalidated his truth:

I was 18 when I began reading about the law that was not on my side, and when I began to see how its existence seemed to validate the silences that had slowly accrued. (4/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

I was 19 when I fell in love with a man, sense what it could mean for love to be reciprocated and then what it could mean for it to be lost. (5/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

And though in 2009, the Delhi High Court had ruled that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was unconstitutional it was short lived as Suresh Kumar Koushal, who runs an astrological centre, challenged the decision. This was followed by the Supreme Court ruling in favour of him.

Danish speaks about the verdict as such:

I was 24 when the Supreme Court delivered the Suresh Kumar Koushal judgment and told me that the rights I assumed were part of my innate humanity did not in fact exist. (6/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

The Koushal Court's words were weighted down with prejudice and hate. I laughed and brushed them off but they often became an unsaid justification to tolerate casual indignities in public or casual cruelties in private. (7/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

At 29, after 16 years of being told his existence is a lie, Danish and other members of his community finally found justice thanks to supreme court judges Dipak Misra, Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.

Danish writes:

I am 29. The highest constitutional court of my country has finally told me that
I am, unambiguously, an equal citizen. That I have, unambiguously, the right to love. (8/9)

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

He concludes his Twitter thread with something we all collectively screamed yesterday:

About fucking time. #377Verdict

— Danish Sheikh 🌈 (@dsheikh726) September 6, 2018

Damn right!

Today, I am proud to call myself a citizen of a nation such as India. We have always taken pride in our diversity and the way in which we’ve been able to coexist with love and respect for each other. And with the decriminalisation of section 377, we have finally opened up our arms to those we had been turning a blind eye towards. Now, we are truly a diverse nation. A nation where we accept one and all, equally. And to the LGBTQ community, I say this: We’re sorry it took so long, and we’re beyond happy for you! Congratulations and loads of love!