The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court will begin hearing the matter of same-sex marriage Tuesday. About 20 petitioners from the LGBTQ+ community have asked the apex court to recognise their marriage under the various marriage acts, including the Hindu Marriage Act, the Special Marriage Act, and the Foreign Marriage Act.
One of the petitioners, a couple from Hyderabad, in their plea, said the “non-recognition of same-sex marriages is violative of the right to equality and the right to life under articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution”.
Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang, who have been together for more than 10 years, have asked the court to give legal recognition to their marriage under the Special Marriage Act. They have asked the court to extend the right to marriage to the LGBTQ+ community.
"I really want my mother to introduce Abhay as her son-in-law legally, loudly, proudly,” said Supriyo Chakraborty, talking about the reasons that pushed him to file the petition, hoping it will pave the way for a new set of rights for the queer community in the country.
Ahead of the hearing, Supriyo spoke to ABP Live to discuss why all Indians should care about this case.
“Everybody should think about it,” Supriyo said, adding that one does not have to be queer to be interested in the matter. “It’s a question about humanity here.”
Born and brought up in Kolkata, the 33-years old met Abhay in 2012 through a dating app, a medium becoming increasingly popular among the queer community in India due to social stigma.
The Acceptance
About his over 10-year-long relationship with Abhay, Supriyo said: “Falling in love is a long process, it's an ongoing process. If you ask me for a date or time, I will not be able to tell you. We have literally grown together and still falling in love with each other, every day, every moment.”
One of those important moments came into the public eye on December 18, 2021, when the couple decided to hold a wedding ceremony in front of their close family and friends. They decide to exchange vows, even if it did not hold any value in the eyes of the state. Their wedding photo went viral at the time. Many even called it the first Gay marriage in Telangana.
Supriyo, who is from a “very traditional joint family”, said the idea of getting married was there in the couple's minds “from day one”. However, Covid was one of the factors that pushed the couples to hold the ceremony.
"There was a situation when both of us were Covid positive. We realised how fragile life is. A lot of our extended family members died at the time. We thought what we were waiting for. We had been together for so many years. Our family, relatives, colleagues, friends, everybody was aware of us, and they cherish the relationship.”
He added: “When we planned for the wedding, we just decided, things will take time, but we are together, we love each other, we can tell the world that we are together.”
But did they think what would society say?
Supriyo said: "My society is very, very progressive. What we call 'society' is our parents, our relatives, people we grow up with, or maybe our colleagues, our friends. They are happy, they are aware, and they accept us."
Talking about his journey of coming out, a life-changing phase every queer person has to go through, Supriyo said: “When I came out to my parents, I wouldn't say they were very happy. They are very traditional, conservative Indian citizens. But they took time to understand. They are very generous. They put in a lot of effort to learn about it.”
He added: “Because, if we talk about our culture and our society, our society still believes in kids' happiness. At the end of the day, my mom, always says you are my son and if you are happy, I'm happy.”
Married, But Not In The Eyes Of Law
However, there is still the question of social acceptance, for Supriyo and Abhay, and several other LGBTQ+ couples, which brought out this historic matter to the apex court.
Supriyo said: “Abhay and I, we are married, but not in the eyes of law...till today if somebody asks if I am married, I take a two-second pause. I really don't know what to answer.”
He said they need a support system.
“People ask, who is this the other person? I say my partner. What kind of partner, your business partner? Our society still doesn't understand this concept,” Supriyo explained the reason that pushed them to fight for legal recognition. He also said there is more to the case than just marriage legalisation.
Marriage And The Bundle Of Rights
Supriyo said a heterosexual couple gets a bundle of rights when they get married, and they always take that for granted. “If tomorrow, something happens to me or Abhay, who will take care of our things? We cannot take each other's medical decisions. There is a situation for the address proof.”
With marriage, come rights of inheritance, insurance nominations, medical decisions, and child adoption rights.
Adoption has become a fundamental part of the case as one of the petitioners in the case has told the court they are raising children. The law does not recognise same-sex unions. Under the Juvenile Justice Act, either single persons or a couple in a stable marital relationship can adopt a child.
When applied to same-sex couples, it gives legal rights to only one of the parents.
Even the government objection in the case cites adoption as a major reason. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the court: "The moment marriage as a recognised institution comes between same sex, question will arise on adoption."
Many external stakeholders have submitted their views in this regard, including a group of former judges, a Muslim organisation named Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, and even the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), which supports the adoption rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
However, on this issue, refraining from commenting on the government's affidavit, which is a judicial matter and will be discussed in the court on Tuesday, Supriyo said: “We do have a lot of friends, they have their kids. It can be mother or father.”
When it comes to decisions like inheritance, medical decisions, and education decisions, if only one parent has the right, if something happens, the other parent will have no rights in the situation, Supriyo said.
“Of course, it's not at all different from any other ‘regular Indian family,’ because they have the same family, the same love, everything is very same. But yes, the rights, it's required. We need a support system. So it's very much required,” he added.
The Emotional Aspect
Asking for such rights, which many think is of ‘Western origin’, comes with backlash as well.
“If I say I was fearless, I would say I'm lying. There was definitely deep down the fear that how society will react, or how random people will say whatever random things, but the end of the day, it's our life. If I'm happy, if we are happy, my people are happy. My family is happy, my parents are happy. I think that's all we want,” said Supriyo, adding: “...end of the day, we are not hurting anyone. We are not doing anything wrong with anyone.”
Hope From Judiciary
The petitioner of a case that has the potential to become a landmark, not only in India but in Asia as well, has a lot of hope with the judicial system and the young generation.
“I strongly believe this will bring change for the better good. We should move forward. Now the awareness is more,” Supriyo said.
A lot has changed after the 2018 judgment, he said, referring to the landmark Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India judgment that decriminalised all consensual sex among adults, including homosexual sex. The Supreme Court's five-judge Constitution bench on September 6, 2018, held that consensual sex among adult homosexuals or heterosexuals in a private space is not a crime. It struck down a part of the British-era IPC 377 on the ground that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity.
“If I talk about this case, I personally have a lot of hope and faith in our judicial system, because this is the time, we need to move forward. The first step definitely was decriminalisation, and the next is the rights, marriage rights,” Supriyo said, adding: “Our country is very generous, people always adopt everything. I'm personally very hopeful for this country and the young generation in that way. There is definitely a brighter tomorrow.”