The Indian Supreme Court (Photo by TK Kurikawa via Bigstock)
NEW DELHI | The LGBTQ+ and intersex community around the world is celebrating Pride month; a month for celebrating identity, raising awareness about equal rights and promoting inclusion.
This year’s Pride month has brought some setbacks and some success globally. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on May 29 signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act with a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality,” but the LGBTQ+ and intersex community is looking towards India, the world’s largest democracy, with great expectation the country could extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.
During this Pride month, the Indian LGBTQ+ and intersex community is hopeful because the Supreme Court’s marriage equality arguments have ended and a ruling is pending.
India in 2018 decriminalized homosexuality, but same-sex marriage remains illegal.
The Supreme Court on April 18 began hearing marriage equality cases, and it reserved the decision after the intense hearing. The ruling is pending before the Supreme Court’s 5-judge constitutional bench.
The central government has opposed any Supreme Court marriage equality declaration. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the country’s second highest law officer, has said any ruling in favor of marriage rights for same-sex couples would amount to interference in the role of the executive, and legislating on the issue should be reserved for Parliament.
Even though the ruling of the Supreme Court is uncertain as the ruling is still pending, it did not stop the LGBTQ+ and intersex community from celebrating Pride month.
Simarpreet Singh, a representative of Anchor, an LGBTQ+ students club at Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, told the Washington Blade that even though Supreme Court’s ruling is still pending, this Pride month seems different as there is higher awareness about it among Indians. While talking to the Blade, he said that this year’s Pride month would have been different if the Supreme Court had issued its ruling.
“I think it will be passed on to legislature,” said Singh, while expressing his expectation from the Supreme Court ruling. “Arguments in favor of queer marriage were strong.”
The LGBTQ+ and intersex community has existed in India since ancient times.
Many ancient texts talk about transgender people and gay and lesbian communities. British rule over India in the 19th century brought anti-LGBTQ+ laws that led to discrimination and made the topic taboo.
Rahul Upadhyay, a member of Orenda, a gender and sexuality club at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, told the Blade that Pride month celebrations would have been different if the Supreme Court had delivered the ruling, but that is not going to stop the LGBTQ+ and intersex community from celebrating their identity.
“When the judgment will be in our favor, there would be a huge celebration,” said Upadhyay. “But people are anyway celebrating the Pride month.”
Upadhyay also said the community is hopeful about the ruling.
He said he followed the hearing, and he believes that even though government lawyers tried every argument against the petition for marriage equality, the foundation has been laid, and now he is waiting for the ruling that may come in July or August after the court comes back from summer vacation.
Mehta in May argued for the Indian government and said that the court is dealing with a complex subject that has a profound social impact.
Varun, a member, and representative of Indradhanu, an LGBTQ+ and intersex resource group at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, told the Blade the community is quite hopeful about the upcoming judgment.
“After the 2018 decriminalization of homosexuality, I feel like Indians have moved to the early nascent stage, and ever since then the community is getting traction very quickly,” said Varun. “So, as the queer collective, we are growing in size, and more queer people are looking to connect. A positive verdict will move us in a very salient way, especially during Pride month, if the verdict had come, the celebration would have surely charged.”
Varun also said he and the community will celebrate during Delhi Pride in November if the ruling is positive.
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