The Promise — and Precarity — of Justice

This chapter presents a distillation of insights gained from a lifetime of political activism. To be an activist above all requires faith, in the sense that you have to imagine a world that currently does not exist, and believe that it can come to exist; you have to have faith that change is possible. Ten lessons learned from a life of organizing and activism are shared.

With the overturning, in 2018, of a centuries-old colonial-era anti-sodomy law, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the Constitution protects the sexual experiences of LGBTQ people. This opinion piece considers the significance of this landmark ruling for India, and for the rest of the world, in setting an example of forward-looking reasoning and transformational constitutionalism in affirming sexual and gender identity. The essay cautions that, while it remains to be seen how this ruling will end up being implemented, it holds the promise of justice.