Same-sex Marriages in India [UPSC Current Affairs]

In March 2023, the Government of India argued in its affidavit in response to a Supreme Court decision to examine petitions on same-sex marriage that any change in human relationships should come from the legislature, not the court. In this context, understand the stand of the government with respect to same-sex marriages in India in this article. This topic is relevant for the IAS exam GS Paper 1 & 2.

What is Same-sex Marriage?

It is marriage either between two men or two women.

• In most countries, same-sex marriages are constrained by legal, religious, and cultural norms.
• A total of 34 nations, including Andorra, have legalised same-sex marriage as of 2023, encompassing around 1.35 billion people (17% of the world’s population).

Petitioner’s Points of View:

• The non-recognition of same-sex marriage, according to the petitioners, amounts to discrimination that damages the worth and fulfilment of LBTQ+ (Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer. The plus (+) ensures that further identities are included and indicates that nobody is left out.) couples.
• It urged that same-sex couples receive the same protection under the Special Marriage Act of 1954 as intercaste and interreligious couples who wish to get married receive.

Central Government’s Stand on Same-sex Marriages

• Marriage between a biological man and a biological woman is a “sacred union, a sacrament, and a sanskar” in India, claims the government.
• According to the government, the court’s 2018 decision in the Navtej Singh Johar case simply decriminalized same-sex sexual activity, not legalised it.
• The court had never recognised same-sex marriage as a component of the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution, despite decriminalising homosexuality.
• Marriages between people of the same sex that are registered would also be in breach of existing provisions of both personal and statutory law.

Also read: Article 377

About the 1954 Special Marriage Act (SMA):

• It is the law that was passed in India to formally recognise and record interfaith and intercaste unions.
• It makes it possible for two people to make a legal agreement to legally wed one another.
• The Act does not mandate the observance of religious rites.
• This Act regulates marriages between Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists.
• This Act applies to Indian nationals living abroad as well as Indian residents of various castes and religions.

Conclusion: Legalizing same-sex unions would have a significant bottom-up impact on society, beginning at the level of the person and the couple, moving on to the family, the community, and finally the level of society.

Same-sex Marriages in India:- Download PDF Here