This news [Section 377 struck down by the Supreme Court] makes today almost as good as the midnight of August 15, 1947, when India gained Independence," said designer Amit Aggarwal, his equal-toned voice carrying a rare tinge of excitement, following Thursday's verdict to strike down Section 377. Married to his longtime partner Rahul Arora since 2015, Delhi-based couture designer Suneet Varma agreed.

Today is the birth of the real Independent India". Reacting to Chief Justice Dipak Misra's comment, "[Section 377 is] irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary", one of India's most prominent designers and defender of queer rights, Wendell Rodricks, said he was "delighted". "In one clean sweep, the judges showed the world that we are a new, progressive India," he said from Goa.