India central government asserts opposition to same-sex marriages amid legal challenge to current framework News
© WikiMedia (Ted Eytan)
India central government asserts opposition to same-sex marriages amid legal challenge to current framework

The Indian government Sunday asserted in a filing to the Indian Supreme Court that it opposes recognising same-sex marriages and pushed the court to disregard pushback from LGBTQ couples on the current legislation. Parts of the filing were leaked but the full filing was not made available to the public.

However, in the filing, the government cited section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and stated that petitioners “cannot claim a fundamental right for same-sex marriage to be recognised under the law.” Similarly, in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals have a right to a union of companionship under the constitution but not the union of marriage (Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India). Furthermore, the government argues that numerous marriage and divorce acts are not applicable to same-sex couples as they do not align with the heterosexual and cisgendered “Indian family unit concept of a husband, wife and children.” Despite homosexual sex and relationships being decriminalised in 2018, marriage is only recognised for heterosexual couples. Regarding civil rights, the government detailed that legal recognition of homosexual marriage is not a fundamental right and under article 19 of the IPC there are no related rights suggesting that these unions should be recognised.

Many LGBTQ groups, such as Queer Hindu Alliance, have issued statements against the government and Supreme Court, petitioning the recognition of same-sex marriage and the encouragement of LGBTQ rights. Ashok Row Kavi, founder of the Humsafar Trust (LGBTQ group) suggested that section 377 of the Penal Code is hard to implement and fear of incarceration and lack of protection makes LGBTQ people very vulnerable.

There will be a hearing about the recognition of same-sex marriage in the Supreme Court on Monday.

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