Supporters gathered on the law outside the Supreme Court of India to await the verdict on October 17, 2023.Tanushree Pandy/CNNNew DelhiCNN —
Campaigners had sought to obtain the right to marry under Indian law, giving them access to the same privileges extended to heterosexual couples, but while that was denied they welcomed the court’s recognition of their relationships.
A five-judge constitution bench led by India’s chief justice delivered the much-anticipated verdict on Tuesday, streamed live across the nation and to crowds outside the court who gathered to watch on their cellphones.
During the two-hour ruling, Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud said queerness is a “natural phenomenon,” and told the government to ensure the “queer community is not discriminated against because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.”
Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said the right of LGBTQ couples to choose their partners was not contested, and they were entitled to celebrate their commitment to each other “in whichever way they wish within the social realm.”
However, he added: “This does not extend the right to claim any legal entitlement to any legal status for the same union or relationship.”
A member of LGBTQ community reacts on the day of the verdict on same-sex marriage by the Supreme Court in New Delhi, India, October 17, 2023.Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
Bhat called for a “high-powered committee” to be formed to evaluate laws that indirectly discriminate against LGBTQ couples by denying them “compensatory benefits or social welfare entitlements” that usually come with being legally married.
“This court cannot within the judicial framework engage in this complex task, the state has to study the impact of these policies and entitlements,” he said.
India’s marriage laws bar millions of LGBTQ couples from accessing legal benefits attached to matrimony in relation to matters including adoption, insurance and inheritance.
More than a dozen petitioners had challenged the law, taking their case to the Supreme Court, which heard their arguments during hearings in April and May.
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Susan Dias, one of the petitioners in the case, said she, along with her partner were “disappointed” with the verdict.
“We were hopeful that it would go a little more positively,” she said. “We filed the petition with the hope that we’d leave with some rights. So, definitely disappointment but I don’t think we’ve taken any steps back.”
The ruling government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had opposed calls to legalize the unions.
In a submission to the court earlier this year, lawyer for the government, Solicitor Tushar Mehta, called same-sex marriage an “urban” and “elitist” concept – one that is “far removed from the social ethos of the country.”
‘It’s not a loss’
Dozens of LGBTQ activists gathered outside the Supreme Court in the Indian capital New Delhi while the verdict was being read.
Some welcomed the judgment as a progressive move, while others said it wasn’t good enough.
Pranav Grover, 20, said it was a “diplomatic” verdict. “It came in perspective with keeping both parties happy,” he said, adding: “Let’s start to focus on the positive.”
Another bystander, Faraz, said he was a little disappointed.
“When we got to know of the privileges, it is definitely a good thing,” he said.”It is not a loss.”
Amrita awaits the verdict at the Supreme Court of India on October 17, 2023.Sania Farooqui/CNN
Amrita, who goes by the pronouns she/they, said while it was “very nice to be recognized by the justices,” it was time to “get a move on.”
They added: “This level of indifference was not expected after waiting for so many months.”
Celebrity chef and LGBTQ activist Suvir Saran http://tehopeng.com/ said while the Supreme Court “didn’t give us the right to marry, it has used the bench as a classroom for educating the legislators and the citizens about homosexuality and the other.”