It was 6.17pm by my clock when Parliament approved two significant Bills that would repeal a law criminalising gay sex, and at the same time shield male-female marriage from legal challenges by making Parliament, not the courts, the arbiter of such matters.

I was watching the live streaming of the historic session from home – through the entire tedious vote process of the ringing of the division bell, to the counting of the vote for the second reading, and then the whole process repeated for the third reading. When the Speaker announced the tally of the final vote to amend the Penal Code to repeal Section 377A – 93 for, three against – I could not help the wide grin that spread across my face, and a lightening of the heart.