In October 2023, millions of LGBTQ+ Indians held their breath as the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on same-sex marriage – and the answer was no. The five-judge bench in Supriyo v. Union of India unanimously ruled that there is no fundamental right to marry under the Indian Constitution and that legalizing same-sex marriage was a matter for Parliament, not the judiciary. For the tens of millions of queer people in India, it was a deeply personal blow – not just a legal one. But the conversation is far from over. The question of whether same-sex marriages should be legalized in India is one of rights, dignity, and what it means to belong in the country you call home.
Table of Contents
The importance of marriage equality
Marriage is not just a ceremony or a social tradition. In legal terms, it is a gateway to an extensive set of rights and protections that the state extends to couples. In India, being legally married opens the door to joint property ownership, shared bank accounts, the right to adopt, inheritance rights, spousal health insurance, and pension benefits. Without legal recognition, same-sex couples are locked out of all of these, forced to navigate life’s most significant moments – illness, death of a partner, having children – without the protections that heterosexual couples take for granted.
The health consequences of this exclusion are well-documented. A review of 25 studies by RAND Corporation found that married same-sex couples reported greater positive mood, lower stress, fewer depressive symptoms, and higher life satisfaction compared to those in non-legally recognized relationships. Critically, legalizing same-sex marriage was also associated with significant declines in suicide attempts among LGBTQ+ adolescents in states where it was permitted. Research from the Williams Institute at UCLA found that 83% of married same-sex couples said marriage improved their sense of safety and security, 75% reported greater life satisfaction, and 67% said it strengthened their relationship stability.
The benefits extend beyond the couple themselves. A study examining the Netherlands – the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001 – found that the legislation significantly improved mental health outcomes for sexual minorities, including those who were not themselves married. The mere existence of legal recognition shifted societal attitudes, reduced institutional stigma, and improved community well-being. India’s LGBTQ+ community deserves access to these same benefits.
The role of cultural and religious norms
One of the biggest obstacles to marriage equality in India is the powerful influence of heteronormativity – the deeply embedded cultural assumption that heterosexual relationships are the default and norm. India’s marriage laws, whether under the Hindu Marriage Act, Muslim Personal Law, or the Special Marriage Act of 1954, were all framed around a union between a man and a woman. Changing any one of these requires navigating not just legislation, but entrenched social and religious belief systems.
When the case was heard before the Supreme Court in 2023, the Indian government argued that same-sex marriage was an “urban, elitist” concept incompatible with the Indian family unit of husband, wife, and children. Religious leaders across faiths – Hindu, Muslim, and Christian organizations – came together to oppose same-sex unions, with some declaring that marriage exists “for procreation, not recreation.” This coalition of opposition made it politically difficult for the ruling government to take a progressive stance.
Yet this framing erases significant parts of India’s own history. Scholars like Dr. Ruth Vanita, author and professor at the University of Montana, have pointed out that Indian society has historically celebrated and recognized same-sex unions, even without formal legal status. Ancient texts, temple carvings, and folk traditions contain references to same-gender love and partnership. The idea that same-sex relationships are “un-Indian” is not a cultural truth – it is a colonial inheritance. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized same-sex intimacy until 2018, was introduced by British colonial administrators in 1861. The Supreme Court’s landmark Navtej Singh Johar judgment struck it down, but marriage equality remained out of reach.
Human rights and global perspectives
Marriage is recognized as a fundamental human right under Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality, or religion, have the right to marry and found a family. While the UDHR’s language reflects the era in which it was written, the core principle – that the right to choose a life partner is a basic human right – has been increasingly interpreted to include same-sex couples by courts and human rights bodies around the world.
As of 2025, same-sex marriage is legally recognized in 38 countries, covering approximately 20% of the world’s population. The Netherlands led the way in 2001. Since then, the movement has expanded across Western Europe, the Americas, and beyond. In 2024, Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex marriage, and Estonia became the first post-Soviet state to do so. Thailand became the most recent country to join this list, making it – until now – the only other Asian nation after Taiwan to legally recognize same-sex unions.
Asia’s landscape on this issue is evolving. Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in 2019 after a constitutional court ruling. Nepal’s Supreme Court directed the government to register same-sex marriages, and a lesbian couple made history as the first to have their marriage officially registered. Japan’s courts have increasingly ruled that the state’s failure to recognize same-sex partnerships is unconstitutional, building pressure on the national legislature. This global momentum makes India’s continued refusal stand out sharply, particularly for a country that prides itself on being the world’s largest democracy and a constitutional republic built on principles of equality and dignity.
Even India’s own Supreme Court, in its 2023 ruling, acknowledged the contradiction. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud stated that the right to choose a life partner goes to the very root of the right to life and liberty under Article 21. Justice Ravindra Bhat, while forming part of the majority against recognition, affirmed that queer people have the right to cohabit and live free from violence and coercion. The court recognized the discrimination but declined to remedy it – effectively acknowledging the injustice while passing responsibility to Parliament.
India’s path forward
The Supreme Court’s decision in October 2023 was not the end of the road – it was a redirection. By explicitly stating that the power to extend marriage rights lies with Parliament, the court handed the issue to the legislative arena. When review petitions were dismissed in January 2025, activists made clear that legal routes remain open and the fight continues. Several pathways now exist for India to move toward greater equality.
Legislative reform through Parliament
The most direct route is an amendment to the Special Marriage Act, 1954 – a secular law designed for interfaith and inter-caste couples – to make it gender-neutral. This would not require changes to personal religious laws like the Hindu Marriage Act or Muslim Personal Law, sidestepping some of the religious opposition. During the 2023 hearings, petitioners specifically asked the court to read the SMA in a gender-neutral manner, arguing that its purpose was to facilitate marriage across social boundaries, which is consistent with including same-sex couples. Parliament taking up this amendment would require political will that currently does not exist in the ruling establishment, but a Pew Research survey published in 2023 found that 53% of Indians believed homosexuality should be accepted – a 38 percentage point increase from 2014, suggesting that public opinion is shifting.
Civil unions as an interim measure
Short of full marriage equality, India could follow the path taken by many countries that first introduced civil unions or registered domestic partnerships before extending full marriage rights. The Supreme Court itself recommended that a high-powered committee be formed to examine which economic entitlements and welfare benefits – joint bank accounts, pensions, insurance, succession rights – could be extended to same-sex couples without requiring formal marriage recognition. If this committee were constituted and its recommendations acted upon, it would represent meaningful progress even without full marriage equality.
State-level recognition and judicial building blocks
Courts in several Indian states, including Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, and Uttarakhand, have already ruled on an individual basis that same-sex live-in relationships are not unlawful and are entitled to legal protection, including limited inheritance benefits and police protection. Building on this precedent, state governments with more progressive leadership – Kerala, for instance – have shown some openness to expanding protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. These state-level moves, while limited, can build a foundation for national legislative change.
Shifting the cultural conversation
Legal change rarely happens without shifts in cultural and social attitudes. India’s LGBTQ+ community, civil society organizations, and allied citizens have an important role to play in making same-sex relationships visible, relatable, and part of the mainstream conversation. The increased visibility and acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals in society can lead to measurable reductions in prejudice and discrimination, creating the social conditions necessary for political action. Representation in media, inclusion in school curricula that deals with relationships and families, and sensitization programs for law enforcement – all of these contribute to building a society where marriage equality is not seen as a threat but as an affirmation of shared human values.
India’s constitution guarantees every person equality before the law, the right to dignity, and the right to live freely. For the country to fully honor those promises, it must extend to LGBTQ+ citizens the same legal recognition of their relationships that it currently reserves for heterosexual couples. The argument is not simply about marriage as a ceremony – it is about whether every Indian has an equal claim to the protections, dignity, and belonging that the state offers to those it recognizes as families.
What do you think? If the Indian Parliament were to take up marriage equality legislation, should it begin with gender-neutral amendments to the Special Marriage Act or first establish civil union protections as an interim step? And given that public acceptance of homosexuality in India has grown significantly over the past decade, what do you think is the real barrier – political will, religious opposition, or something else entirely?
References
- https://www.npr.org/2023/10/22/1207863803/indias-supreme-court-rules-against-marriage-equality
- https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RBA2912-2.html
- https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/marriage-equality-press-release/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9293432/
- https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/17/unpacking-indian-supreme-courts-verdict-on-same-sex-marriage
- https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage
- https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/countries-where-same-sex-marriage-is-legal
- https://www.washingtonblade.com/2025/01/14/indian-supreme-court-rejects-marriage-equality-ruling-appeals/
- https://www.scobserver.in/reports/plea-for-marriage-equality-judgement-summary/
- https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-dismisses-review-petitions-against-its-decision-refusing-to-recognize-queer-marriages-280498
- https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/17/india/india-same-sex-marriage-verdict-intl-hnk/index.html
- https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/07/25/indian-supreme-court-continues-to-hear-challenges-to-marriage-equality-ruling/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_same-sex_unions_in_India
- https://www.ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2311251.pdf
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