Indian gay couples fight for same-sex marriage rights at Supreme Court

Four couples have petitioned the court wanting their unions legally acknowledged and saying they’re denied rights linked to medical consent, pensions and adoption

In 2018 a colonial-era ban on homosexuality was struck down, but experts say the government will fight further LGBTQ demands ‘tooth and nail’

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Parth Phiroze Mehrotra and his partner Uday Raj Anand say only one of them is able to be a legal guardian of their children. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:30pm, 6 Jan 2023

Four gay couples asked India’s Supreme Court on Friday to legally recognise same-sex marriages, in a sign of shifting values and a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has opposed gay marriage in the past.

The petition, which comes four years after the same court struck down a colonial-era ban on homosexuality, is not expected to result in immediate change in the socially conservative country of 1.4 billion. But analysts say it reflects changing social attitudes, driven particularly by the urban middle classes.

Modi’s administration initially opposed ripping up the ban on homosexuality, but its final decision to abstain allowed for the landmark ruling.

Ahead of Friday’s hearing, one of the same-sex marriage petitioners, Abhay Dang, said the non-recognition of his marriage with partner Supriyo Chakraborty has deprived them of basic rights and opportunities enjoyed by married heterosexual couples.

“We feel like we are the most important people in each other’s lives, but in the eyes of the law, we are like strangers,” he said.

Supreme Court filings show that the four couples say they are denied rights such as those linked to medical consent, pensions, adoption or even simpler issues like joint club memberships, according to Reuters.