Hyderabad: News of the Union government opposing the petitions filed before the Supreme Court by gay couples seeking recognition of same sex marriage under law, has left the LGBTQ+ community and its allies fuming.
On Sunday, the Centre filed an affidavit before the apex court saying that living together as partners and having sexual relationships by same sex individuals was 'not comparable to the Indian family concept’.
"The latter requires a biological man as a ‘husband’, a biological woman as a ‘wife’ and the children born out of the union between the two. Family issues are far beyond mere recognition and registration of marriage between persons belonging to the same gender. Living together as partners and having sexual relationships with same sex individuals [which is decriminalised now] is not comparable with the Indian family unit concept," the affidavit read.
"The news is extremely frustrating but definitely not a shocker to me. Such a view was expected from the government. However, we trust the judiciary to render justice like with scrapping Sec 377. We will not be distracted by the noise that the government is making," said Patruni Sastry, a drag artist from the city.
Being bisexual and married to a straight woman, he said, is disappointing to people whose queerness is not taken into account when two people enter into something as intimate and intricate as a marital contract/commitment.
"The parties entering into marriage create an institution having its own public significance as it is a social institution from which several rights and liabilities flow, it was submitted. Hence, seeking a declaration for solemnisation/registration of marriage has more ramifications than simple legal recognition," the government said in the affidavit.
Anil Kohli, founder of Mobbera Foundation, which works for the rights and concerns of the LGBTQ+ community, said that the government needs to understand that motherhood and fatherhood don't require gender.
"They need to come out of this box of gender and accept that any gender is fit to care for and bring up a child. There's good and bad in every community and religion. That should not mean all of us are deemed 'bad parents'," Kohli said.
They said that one can't hide their biases under the word 'culture.'
"No religion preaches one to hate the other because of whom they love. And there are so many things that aren't born out of our culture, but we don't ban or criminalise them. There are several marriages and families that are failing and struggling to live in peace because of this very toxic 'culture'. It's time the government lets us, who vote, pay taxes and are dutiful, mature citizens, to choose who we want to marry. It pains me when someone asks why my partner and I aren't married, what's the point when we don't have a marriage certificate and the rights that come with it," said Kohli, who has been in a nine-year relationship with his partner.
A lesbian and LGBTQ activist said that such news coming at a time when a transgender couple has given birth to a baby in February shows how biased the government is.
"People are going to the extent of undergoing sex transformations and risking their health to bring up their offspring well and the Centre thinks it can sit up there and assume the capabilities and sensibilities of the LGBTQ+ community," she said.
The Centre said that the State does not recognise these other forms of marriages or unions or personal understandings of relationships between individuals in society 'but the same are not unlawful.'
Explaining the implications of unrecognised marriages, advocate Neha. D. said that children from unregistered marriages do not get their civil rights easily from their fathers, such as legal rights to child support, inheritance or birth certificates.
"An unregistered marriage can be interpreted as a marriage that does not exist. As a result, children born from such marriages are categorised as illegitimate children based on Article 42 of Law No. 1 of 1974," she said, adding that a child out of wedlock will only have a civil relationship from his/her mother and the mother’s family, while the same child has no civil relationship with the biological father and the father’s family.
Likewise, in the case of registering a child’s identity in the form of a birth certificate, which only includes the name of the mother.
"Issus can also arise with adoptions, guardians and others," another advocate said.
