India prepares for marriage equality ruling
The world’s largest democracy is at the crossroad of monumental change. India’s more than 2.5 million LGBTQ and intersex people are looking at the country’s Supreme Court with great hopes because it will hold another hearing on marriage equality on April 18.
The five justices on March 13 heard the issue. The Supreme Court last Dec. 14 asked the Indian government to respond to two petitions seeking a transfer of marriage equality petitions before the Delhi High Court to itself.
The government on March 12 filed a response to the Supreme Court. The government opposed legal recognition of same-sex marriage and told the highest court that same-sex couples living together as partners and having a sexual relationship with the same sex individual, which is now decriminalized, is not comparable with Indian family unit — a husband, a wife and a child born out of the union.
The government also told the Supreme Court that same-sex marriage is not compatible with the Indian ethos and morality. According to the response filed by the government in the high court, the institution of marriage is crucial in India.
