Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    India's LGBTQ Activists Await Supreme Court Verdict On Same-Sex Intercourse Ban

    Activists are challenging the law, which dates back to the British colonial era. More Indian cities are hosting gay pride parades, but some polls show most Indians still frown on homosexuality.
    by Lauren Frayer Jul 26, 2018 5 minutes
    Despite a ban on same-sex intercourse, India has a discreet gay scene in cosmopolitan centers, including at the Lalit hotel, where Rani Ko-He-Nur attends a drag night. The hotel's executive director is one of the plaintiffs in a Supreme Court case seeking to overturn the ban.

    For 30 years, health counselor Arif Jafar has been handing out condoms at the sprawling Charbagh train station in his hometown of Lucknow, a midsize city in northern India.

    His clients are males who have sex with males, and the train station is a spot where they feel safe, he says — a public area, bustling with people, where they can blend in with the crowds. A few times a week, Jafar, 48, holds counseling sessions right next to the train platforms. He hands out condoms and flyers with cartoons demonstrating how to use them. Many of his clients cannot read.

    But in India, showing men how to use a condom for sex with other men can land you in prison. Section 377 of the outlaws any sex — even consensual — that goes "against the order of nature." The law dates back

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR1 min read
    How Flying Got So Bad (or Did It?)
    We often hear that air travel is worse than it's ever been. Gone are the days when airplanes touted piano bars and meat carving stations — or even free meals. Instead we're crammed into tiny seats and fighting for overhead space. How did we get here?
    NPR1 min read
    The Sunday Story: Roy Wood Jr. on the Road to Rickwood
    What does a comedian know about baseball? And what can America's oldest baseball field tell us about the civil rights movement?Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama is America's oldest ballpark. It's older than Wrigley Field and Fenway park. But its
    NPR2 min read
    The Jawbone Of Washed-up Whale In New Zealand Was Removed With Chainsaw And Stolen
    The jawbone of a nearly 50-foot sperm whale that washed ashore in New Zealand's southernmost region has been removed. While the act is illegal, it's also considered disrespectful to the Māori people.

    Related Books & Audiobooks