How we got here
A timeline of love, law and science
Filter by theme, then scroll. The line fills as you go.
Events
Diversity in scripture and stone
Shikhandi in the Mahabharata, Ardhanarishvara, and later the carvings at Khajuraho (around 950 to 1050 CE).
Section 377 is imposed
British colonial rulers criminalise "carnal intercourse against the order of nature."
The Kinsey Report
Shows same-sex attraction is far more common than assumed.
Hooker's blind test
Experts can't tell gay and straight men apart on psychological tests.
Stonewall, New York
Riots after a police raid spark the modern global pride movement.
APA declassifies homosexuality
No longer a mental disorder in the American diagnostic manual.
Ashok Row Kavi speaks out
One of the first Indians to talk openly about being gay in the press; he later founds Bombay Dost (1990) and the Humsafar Trust (1994).
WHO removes homosexuality from its disease list
On 17 May, now the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
India's first pride walk
A small group walks in Kolkata in the Friendship Walk.
Naz Foundation challenges 377
The petition that starts India's long legal battle.
A prince comes out
Manvendra Singh Gohil of Rajpipla becomes the first Indian royal to come out publicly.
Delhi High Court reads down 377
Naz Foundation v. Government of NCT of Delhi decriminalises consensual same-sex relations.
Supreme Court reverses it
Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation reinstates 377.
NALSA judgment
Transgender people recognised as a third gender, with the right to self-identify.
Right to privacy
Puttaswamy names sexual orientation as an essential part of privacy.
Navtej Singh Johar: 377 struck down
A five-judge bench decriminalises same-sex love. The Indian Psychiatric Society says homosexuality is not an illness.
Dutee Chand comes out
The sprinter becomes India's first openly gay elite athlete.
Largest genetics study published
477,522 people. No single gay gene, but many small genetic influences.
Transgender Persons Act
Prohibits discrimination against transgender people.
Madras High Court guidelines
S. Sushma v. Commissioner of Police orders protections for queer people and action against conversion therapy.
Conversion therapy declared misconduct
The National Medical Commission tells all state councils.
Marriage equality case
Supriyo Chakraborty v. Union of India: the Supreme Court declines to legalise same-sex marriage, leaving it to Parliament.
Transgender amendment passed (contested)
Introduces medical-board verification, narrows the legal definition, adds tougher penalties for some crimes. The government says it targets welfare and prevents coercion; activists say it removes self-identification recognised in NALSA. Protests took place nationwide and legal challenges are expected.