( CNN ) -- On Tuesday , I was free . On Wednesday , I became a criminal . Tuesday , we mourned the loss of President Nelson Mandela -- a leader whose presidency saw the first constitutional prohibition on anti-gay discrimination . On Wednesday , the India Supreme Court denied my freedom as a gay man , upholding a nearly 153-year-old colonial law that could result in my own imprisonment . Tuesday , on Human Rights Day , the story of my gay friend fleeing India because his family threatened to kill him went viral . Today , India 's highest court has wiped away four years of progress following the Delhi High Court ruling that set me free . Religious groups -- have been fighting to overturn the high court ruling for three years , and have succeeded . I was 19 when I was set free . And I remember the feeling of hope as I heard the news -- not just that my country was on a new path , but that my life was . I sat down with my family and came out to them . So many of my friends did the same , all across the country . When I heard the news Wednesday , I wondered about all those people who are living with the burden of hiding , with the fear of harassment and violence . I wondered about those who had come out of the closet over the last four years , and if they , like me , heard in the Supreme Court ruling a clear message to go back in . I will not , much to my mother 's distress . I called her upon hearing the news . She was n't always by my side -- she has a journey of her own over the last four years . But last year she marched in the Gay Pride parade with me . Today , she 's worried about her son . `` I told you , '' she said , `` it 's not that easy . '' But I refuse to retreat . With this ruling , according to ILGA , India becomes the 77th country worldwide that views lesbian , gay , bisexual and transgender people as criminals . Just this week , the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. , Samantha Power , spoke out strongly against these laws , saying `` To criticize the criminalization of LGBT status is not cultural imperialism . To deny gays and lesbians the right to live freely and to threaten them with discrimination and even death is not a form of moral or religious Puritanism . It 's in fact barbarism . '' As I write this , I sit in the Human Rights Campaign offices in Washington , D.C. , as a fellow with the Global Engagement Program . Upon accepting this fellowship , I knew I would be working to shine a spotlight on this barbarism . But I never imagined my own homeland would take center stage . We all had hope . Now , our opponents do . On Twitter , the American Family Association 's Bryan Fischer is cheering the ruling , saying the U.S. Supreme Court should follow India 's example . Back in my home country , where the only chance of reversing this decision lies with the Parliament , the conservatives who give passes to anti-LGBT `` honor '' killings are downright giddy . But their enthusiasm will only make my voice louder . In President Barack Obama 's eulogy at the funeral of Mandela , he said that , `` he tells us what is possible not just in the pages of history books , but in our own lives as well . Mandela showed us the power of action ; of taking risks on behalf of our ideals . '' While India 's Supreme Court justices took my freedom , they can not take my hope . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Tushar Malik .
Tushar Malik : India 's high court just made being gay illegal , upholding old colonial law . Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling four years ago to legalize homosexuality . Malik remembers being hopeful when being gay was made legal ; many came out of closet . He says , `` while India 's Supreme Court justices took my freedom , they can not take my hope ''