“We desire to see our children and children-in-law find final legal acceptance for their relationship under the Special Marriage Act in our country. We are certain that a nation as big as ours which respects its diversity and stands for the value of exclusion will open its legal gate of marriage equality to our children too…” A group of 400 parents of queer wards have now written to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages of their children.
While hearing arguments in the same-sex marriage matter, the apex court had on April 20 said it may be redefining the "evolving notion of marriage" as the next step after decriminalising consensual homosexual relationships which implicitly recognised that same-sex people could live in a stable marriage-like relationship.
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The year is 2023 and the Supreme Court of India is hearing a clutch of petitions that mark the long battle for granting LGBTQIA++ people their rights protected under law. The battle till here, to reach the apex court, has not been an easy one with same-sex couples facing larger challenges at every stage to protect their fundamental rights. But throughout time, homosexual couples never waited for a legal admission of their union. From secret events to public marriages, they braved societal stereotypes, hate, and oppression, to go ahead and celebrate their union through a social marriage. For a few, it was a story of happily ever after, while for others, it was a double-fold hardship. However, nothing stopped them from celebrating love and it is their battle and stories that paved the way for the legal battle today.
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As arguments and counter-arguments around same-sex marriage continue in the Supreme Court, we take a brief look at a few of those, in the recent past, whose acts of inclusivity have left a mark in the long journey of LGBTQIA++ people fighting for equality.
Urmila Srivastava and Leela Namdevo
The social marriage of Urmila Srivastava and Leela Namdevo is said to be the first documented same-sex marriage in India that happened in Madhya Pradesh back in the ‘80s. The two policewomen got married in 1987 following a Gandharva ritual and the rituals were carried out by a priest. However, when the event came to light in February 1988, they were dismissed from their service and following a series of court proceedings, ill-treatment and oppression, the couple had to finally call off their wedding.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil and Deandre Richardson
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil was publicly disowned by his royal family in Rajpipla, Gujarat over his sexual orientation. He is the first prince of India who came out but was eventually forced to marry a woman and undergo conversion therapy. His effigies were burnt while he was stripped of his right to the ancestral property. However, in 2013 he finally married his husband Duke DeAndre Richardson. After going through initial years of trauma, in July 2022, Gohil celebrated his nine years of marriage with Richardson in the US, where same-sex marriage is legalised. However, his story and journey led him to open his 15-acre palace grounds to become the first-of-its-kind LGBTQIA+ community centre in India after the decriminalisation of Section 377.
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Beena and Savita
The case of Beena and Savita was the first of its kind where the same-sex couple’s marriage was given protection by a Gurgaon court. The couple, in their petition, admitted that married in 2011 and after their family disowned them coming under the pressure of societal stereotypes, they approached the court. After hearing their case, on the previous instance of Savita’s marriage, the court invoked a 2009 Punjab and Haryana high court judgment directing session judges to grant protection to the “run-away” couple.
Abhishek Ray and Chaitanya Sharma
Abhishek and Chaitanya became the first same-sex couple in Kolkata to host a grand, social marriage after overcoming a series of social stigmatisation. Although the couple consider themselves privileged to have been born into a social setup that made the battle less difficult, there were however larger challenges that loomed when they conducted their marriage in 2022-- the fear of hurting certain political sentiments and finding a priest who would solemnise their marriage. The couple currently stays in Kolkata and looks forward to hearing a positive outcome of the same-sex hearings.
