A new petition has been submitted to the Supreme Court that has added a new angle to the same-sex marriage argument, which is currently the subject of a contentious Supreme Court hearing. Vaibhav and Parag have been in a gay relationship since 2012.
They got married in Texas in 2017 and recently adopted a four-month-old baby. Now, the couple is pleading with the Supreme Court to make the Foreign Marriage Act gender-neutral through senior counsel Geeta Luthra.
The pair made an appearance virtually during the proceedings before a five-judge constitutional bench, which was presided over by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. On Monday, the CJI had disapproved of attorney Mathews Nedumpara for pointing at a woman petitioner to tell the court that she had come five times to request an early hearing of her petition. “We don’t need an exhibit here,” he stated.
“They are free and equal in other countries but on coming to India, they become non-married. During the Covid pandemic, visas were granted to spouses to visit their home country, but this couple was denied as their marriage was not recognised in India. The SC should make the FM Act gender-neutral to allow them to register their marriage here,” Geeta Luthra argued mentioning that Texas laws recognise same-sex marriage.
“Marriage, the oldest social institution, has never been a static concept. Inter-caste and inter-faith marriages were not recognised earlier. Some countries did not recognise interracial marriages. But marriage as an institution has evolved to usher in equality in social relationships,” she emphasised.
The LGBTQIA+ community cannot wait for Parliament, which will take its time, to recognise their right to marriage, similar to that of heterosexual couples, insisted senior attorney Anand Grover. “The right to marriage is a fundamental right which cannot be curtailed on the ground that same-sex couples lack the capacity to procreate,” he proclaimed.
According to senior counsel Jayna Kothari, the right to marriage is unaffected by sexual orientation or gender identity. “Right to marry confers the right to have a family, which is not a heterosexual phenomenon as a family gives a person stability, dignity, social recognition and emotional support,” she voiced.
Senior advocate Menka Guruswamy asserted that world over, 5-7% of the population identifies themselves as LGBTQIA+. Millions of people in India are a part of this global community, and the government cannot order the court to wait until Parliament recognises their basic rights.
He cited the Indian Psychiatric Society’s statement in support of same-sex marriage rights, which was released on the day of the SC hearing on April 18. He claimed that the right to marriage is inextricably tied to the right to life.