Section 377

Section 377 of the British colonial penal code outlawed all sexual acts "against the order of nature". This law was used to punish people who performed oral or anal sex. Although Section 377 does not specifically include the word homosexual, it has been used to prosecute homosexual activity.

The penal code still exists in many former colonies and has been used to criminalize third gender people, such as the apwint in Myanmar.^[1] In 2018, British politician Theresa May acknowledged how British colonial anti-sodomy laws have led to discrimination, violence, and death.^[2]

Colonial history

The British imposed the Offences against the Person Act 1861 on the entire British Empire. It includes an anti-sodomy section that says:

Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable Crime of Buggery, committed either with Mankind or with any Animal, shall be liable, at the Discretion of the Court, to be kept in Penal Servitude for Life or for any Term not less than Ten Years.

This section is credited with giving birth to the controversial Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.^[3] Authorities in the Raj introduced this section in 1862. This led to the criminalization of "unnatural offenses" throughout the various colonies.^[1][4][5]

Remains

Although most colonies have become independent states since Section 377 was implemented, it remains in the penal codes of the following countries:

• Bangladesh^[6]
• Jamaica ^[source?]
• Malaysia ^[source?]
• Myanmar^[6]
• Pakistan^[6]
• Sri Lanka (as Section 365)^[6]
• Singapore

Singapore's law was amended in 2007 as Section 377A. It made any sexual act between men illegal and any sexual act between a man and a woman legal.^[7][8]