Taking the right step forward
By agreeing to listen to same-sex marriage pleas, SC has underscored the value of dignity and rights
Four years after India decriminalised homosexuality and affirmed that the continued stigmatisation of consensual same-sex relationships was unjustified and unconstitutional, the country is on the cusp of another civil rights epoch. Two couples have approached the Supreme Court (SC) with petitions that demand legal recognition for same-sex couples and statutory backing for members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities to marry the person of their choice. A bench of the SC, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, issued a notice to the Union government, asking for a response within four weeks. If the plea is successful, India will join a club of 30-odd nations that have legalised same-sex marriage, and mark one of the fastest journeys from decriminalisation of same-sex relationships to granting them statutory recognition anywhere in the world.
But regardless of the fate of these petitions, their existence speaks volumes for the progress in society. The 2018 verdict made it possible for queer people to approach the courts to affirm their love, thwart parental and police violence, imagine lives of dignity, and blunt discrimination and bias. Yes, change came slowly, and often in incremental steps, but the direction of the movement — high courts recognising the marriage of a transperson, issuing guidelines to medical professionals and police for safeguarding LGBTQIA+ rights, asking police to ringfence queer couples from familial violence and affirming, time and again, that having alternative sexualities and genders is not a crime — is unequivocal.
What does same-sex marriage bring to this mix? It is the realisation of a crucial piece of civil rights, one that ensures that queer people are not discriminated against when it comes to State recognition, financial services, government benefits and family planning and protection. It allows the realisation of the potential of queer people, as individuals, as Indians, and as citizens. And it signals to the world and society that discrimination cannot remain the norm. The SC has done well by agreeing to listen to the petitioners. After all, a bunch of similar petitions were pending before various high courts but with little progress due to State inaction. Of course, social churn takes time and generates resistance and it is only natural that there will be many objections and stances that will need to be taken into account and deliberated upon. But by granting the petitioners their day in court, the SC has made one thing clear: The progress of human dignity and rights can only be in one direction, forward.