Indian American gay and lesbian activists on Friday termed the Delhi High Court's decision which decriminalised homosexuality as "historic first" in their effort to fight for their rights in India.

"It is the culmination of eight years of struggle. A lot of work has gone into it," said South Asian historian and gay rights activist, Mario D'Penhna, as Indian Americans gathered to celebrate the occasion in Manhattan today.

"This is an historic first, but yet not the end," D'Penhna said.

"This decision comes at an opportune time when South Asian queer leaders around the world are focused on engaging the larger community to create dialogue about issues of same-sex marriage and immigration policy," says Myna Mukherjee, executive director of Engendered, a New York-based trans-national arts and human rights organization.

"I would like to heartily congratulate the thousands of gay rights activists in India who have been fighting the big fight on the ground by filing petition after petition to win this battle for their freedom and equality," she said.

The Delhi High court ruled that Section 377, as it criminalizes gay sex among consenting adults, is a violation of fundamental rights.

"The last few days have been amazing and historic for sexuality and human rights organising, especially from a trans-national scope," said Debanuj Dasgupta, a gay and immigrations rights activist in India and the US.

Also this week, the US Department of Health and Human Services has issued renewed travel and immigration regulations lifting the HIV/AIDS ban from the immigration process, thus providing immigration relief to thousands of HIV positive immigrants.

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