"It feels like breathing in open air…no criminality," was what activist Arif Jafar, who has felt the scourge of Section 377 , said after the verdict.One of the petitioners in the case, Jafar remembered the 47 days he spent in jail 17 years ago. In July 2001, he and his colleagues - engaged in outreach work to educate sexual minorities about their rights - were arrested in Lucknow and charged under a provision linked to Section 377. "I feel every moment spent in jail and the struggle thereafter has been worth it now," added Jafar, who is the founder of Lucknow-based Bharosa and a part of Naz Foundation International Similar sentiments were voiced by activists and grassroots workers working on the issue for decades.Transrights activist Abhina Aher, associate director of India HIV/AIDS Alliance , said, "We marked the 72nd Iday for the country this year but for us this is the first queer Independence Day."Yashwinder Singh from Humsafar Trust, one of the petitoners, emerged with a friend from the court complex proudly wearing a rainbow scarf and loudly proclaiming "freedom". "The fear of blackmail and arrest is gone. The focus now shifts to making way for rights like marriage, adoption and inheritance," he said.