Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly, who has always spoken up for the rights of LGBTs (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender), says she was ostracised by her colleagues, friends and family for her stance but it did not deter her.

An ecstatic Celina, 36, called it a historic judgement by the Supreme Court, which decriminalised homosexuality between consulting adults by declaring Section 377, the penal provision which criminalised gay sex as “manifestly arbitrary”

Hailing the verdict, Celina told IANS in a message: “I waited every single day for last 15 years of my life as an LGBT activist, with great hope and optimism and it’s finally happened, I, as a true patriot, always had one principle and that being: I do not accept discrimination should be preserved as a tradition, or that violence should be treasured as a part of any culture.”

The actress, a United Nations equality champion who promotes its Free and Equal campaign, says she cannot imagine what her LGBT fellow citizens have felt all these years being “victims of an archaic system, the immense ostracism and criticism I faced as a straight ally and LGBT activist is not even a patch on it.

“I was ostracised by colleagues, friends and family too, for fighting for LGBT rights. It did not deter me but kept me going, for I knew there were millions going on without a right to life, without dignity, without being able to breathe freely and without feeling safe.

“Today is a historic day: our apex courts have given dignity to millions within our country, What a judgement! “

The former Miss India (2001) says the struggle for equal rights for many has paid off.

“Today, history is made. Millions will breath the first breath of freedom. Our apex courts have changed the course of regressive thinking to a progressive one with today’s decision. I am so happy that the years many struggled for will come to an end and my children will have the opportunity to belong to a country which caters to its each and every one of its citizens,” said Celina.

Here are some Bollywood films on the subject of homosexuality;

1) Fire

The characters of Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das who played sisters in law get into a relationship in the film.

2) Dostana

In the film, the characters of John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan pretend to be gay in order to rent a house.

3) Aligarh

The much-acclaimed film depicted the true story of Ramchandra Siras, a professor of Marathi and the head of the Classical Modern Indian Languages Faculty at the famed Aligarh Muslim University, who was suspended on grounds of morality. Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao essayed key roles in the film.

4) Bombay Talkies

In this 2013 anthology film, the film titled Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh depicts the attraction between the characters of Randeep Hooda and Saqib Saleem.

5) Margarita With A Straw

The film depicted the coming of age of the character of a girl suffering from cerebral palsy essayed by Kalki Koechlin and depicted her complex relationship with a blind girl essayed by Sayani Gupta.

6) I Am

The anthology film had two sub-plots Abhimanyu and Omar which centred around the topic of homosexuality. Sanjay Suri, Rahul Bose and Arjun Mathur essayed pivotal characters in the sub-plots.

7) Girlfriend

The film focused on the character of Isha Koppikar‘s obsessive relationship with the character of Amrita Arora.

8) Kapoor & Sons

In this drama film, the character of Fawad Khan is depicted as gay.

9) Angry Indian Goddesses

The film depicted the characters of Sarah Jane Dias and Tannishtha Chatterjee in a relationship.

10) Dedh Ishqiya

The film hints at a relationship between the characters of Madhuri Dixit and Huma Qureshi.

11) My Brother Nikhil

One of the most sensitive and well-handled films which centred around the topic. The film depicted the life of the protagonist, Nikhil, from 1987 to 1994, when AIDS awareness in India was considerably low. Sanjay Suri and Juhi Chawla essayed key roles in the film.