US verdict on gay marriages 'empowering', say Indian activists

New Delhi, July 2: While there was a flurry of Facebook profile images doused in the colours of the rainbow indicating solidarity with the US Supreme Court's legalisation of same-***** marriages, LGBT activists say the landmark judgment has done much to boost the morale and foster the empowerment of the community in India. "There is a lot of positive things to talk about this landmark verdict. Whether it is about the sati system being abolished in India, or homosexuality being legalised in US, I think such things give great insights about the human psyche and the way the oppressed are empowered," Harrish Iyer, the only Indian to be listed in the World Pride Powerlist 2013, told IANS. Reflecting on the positive effect of the ruling on the global LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, Iyer said: "We need to start thinking of the world as one community because I don't know about heterosexual, but the homo community is well connected." He, however, added that it would take much time for India to completely accept the LGBT community as society also has "other dynamics" like caste and religion to look into. "To expect India to wake up tomorrow and say that the US has done something, so let's say that being gay is okay is a little too unrealistic. We have a lot of other dynamics to look into, like caste and religion. We have to fight out these battles first," he said. But on a bigger level, Iyer believes that there are "more battles to win" before fighting for equal rights in marriage in India.