BY KEERTHI CHANDRASHEKAR
ARTESIA, CA - Protests against the recent Indian Supreme Court ruling reinstating Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) spread past the Indian border as the local LGBTQ group Satrang hosted a candlelight vigil Dec. 13 here to express their disbelief and solidarity with their comrades in India.
Section 377 makes it a crime to engage in sexual activities “against the order of nature,” effectively criminalizing homosexuality, even if it is between two consenting adults. The group of about 35 protesters, some of them openly gay, began their vigil at around 7 pm, when they walked over from 183rd Street and Pioneer Blvd. to the local Cash and Carry a few blocks down. Attendees adorned themselves with signs protesting 377 and many passed out flyers to passerbys. Despite the small turnout, Satrang chose the Pioneer Blvd. for their vigil because, as they put it, it is an “important nexus” for South Asians in Southern California.
ARTESIA, CA - Protests against the recent Indian Supreme Court ruling reinstating Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) spread past the Indian border as the local LGBTQ group Satrang hosted a candlelight vigil Dec. 13 here to express their disbelief and solidarity with their comrades in India.
Section 377 makes it a crime to engage in sexual activities “against the order of nature,” effectively criminalizing homosexuality, even if it is between two consenting adults. The group of about 35 protesters, some of them openly gay, began their vigil at around 7 pm, when they walked over from 183rd Street and Pioneer Blvd. to the local Cash and Carry a few blocks down. Attendees adorned themselves with signs protesting 377 and many passed out flyers to passerbys. Despite the small turnout, Satrang chose the Pioneer Blvd. for their vigil because, as they put it, it is an “important nexus” for South Asians in Southern California.