Going by the indications given by the judges of the Supreme Court, it seems that gay sex is finally going to be decriminalised in India.

Isn’t it time?

After the exhilaration following the Delhi High Court verdict in July 2009 and the subsequent overturn by the Supreme Court in December 2013, the LGBT community has learnt never to be too sure. After all, the many people who came out jubilantly in 2009 were shocked that they were being branded criminals again.

However, let us not for a moment believe that this judgement whenever it comes, will change things dramatically as far as the LGBT population is concerned. Society does not change so soon.

For the LGBT community, what changes is that they can no longer be harassed by corrupt cops who currently can wave the law book at them and threaten prosecution and worse, out them in front of their families.

To gain acceptance from their families, to be able to hold hands together in public, to be able to accept their orientation without shame or guilt will take a lot more than this judgement.

There are thousands of homosexuals who still get into heterosexual marriages due to pressure from the family and bring two individuals and their families to ruin. This judgement is not going to change all of that in a hurry.

But a start is a start. Rome, they say, wasn’t built in a day. We can only hope that this judgement marks the beginning of a new era where LGBT are accepted as a part of society just like straight people and have the same rights as them.