NYT:

In a landmark ruling Thursday that could usher in an era of greater freedom for gays and lesbians in India, New Delhi’s highest court decriminalized homosexuality.

“Discrimination is antithesis of equality,” Delhi High Court judges wrote in a 105-page decision that is the first in India to directly guarantee rights for gays and lesbians. “It is the recognition of equality which will foster dignity of every individual,” the decision said.

Just as developing countries may get to skip directly to more advanced technology without going through all the same phases that the rich world did along the way, might they also take a somewhat more direct path towards social justice on some fronts? The US only got around to doing this a few years ago. Granted, the ruling in India is technically only regional at this point and the US has moved on to having similarly having individual state courts strike down bans on same sex marriage, which I suppose is a further step, and this is only one perhaps aberant example. Still.