Same-sex marriage: 'Had pinned hopes on Supreme Court, now a long struggle lies ahead'

NEW DELHI: The SC judgement ruling against granting legal sanction to same sex marriage and adoption rights dashed the hopes of the LGBTQIA++ community members who have now set their eyes on pushing the government to implement the points raised by the apex court to recognise and empower the community.
The five-member Constitution bench of SC unanimously ruled that members of LGBTQIA+ community members cannot be conferred the right to marry and three judges negated the opinion of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justice S K Kaul for conferment of adoption rights on queer couples.
Be a transman in Bengaluru to a group of transpersons in interiors of Manipur, the members of the community followed the SC proceedings with hope and anxiety as the day rolled on, bringing alive the sentiment asserted by CJI DY Chandrachud in his judgement that queerness is neither an urban nor elite concept.
BD Khoisnam, a young activist and transman from Manipur, said he wanted to marry in future but the SC judgement had put paid to his hopes. “We know we have to keep fighting for our rights,” he said.
However, there was one silver lining and many from the community welcomed the part of the verdict which allowed a transgender male to legitimately marry a transgender woman under the Special Marriages Act. Many transpersons do not necessarily conform to the heteronormative sexual orientation identity. Transman Shaman Gupta, who leads voluntary organisation TWEET Foundation, highlights a recent study that captures the experiences of transmen to point out that around 57% of 331 transmen surveyed said they had a heterosexual orientation whereas the rest identified as gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer and asexual.
Transgender rights activist and President of National Network of Transgender Persons, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, said, “The Supreme Court was our point of hope but sadly they have left it all to Parliament. The LGBTQIA+ community is not a vote-bank for political parties and our needs are not a priority. Now we know we have a long struggle ahead.” Tripathi also highlighted that while the court spoke of various measures like strengthening shelter homes and anti-discrimination law, the ground reality is that the government has not been able to address the concerns of the community adequately.
Agreeing with Tripathi, Trans activist, Sowmya Gupta who is also part of the national network said that they have decided to hold a meeting with their legal team next week to decipher the judgement to see how they can plan their strategy for outreach in the future. "The SC has had many things for the community that also open some doors for the future and we will be now looking at those aspects to build on the issues affecting the community," she added.
Transwoman and activist Zainab Patel, who is one of the petitioners in the case, said, “We always knew that our struggle is long but today’s judgement has left me upset as we expected more from the court. But the judgement has set the path of our future struggle to get the government to implement all the things that have been said to secure the community and address their needs.”
Vivek Anand, CEO of Humsafar Trust that has been steering the fight for long, said, “It feels like a big set-back to a lifetime of work put into the struggle by the community to seek legal rights to marry. The judges used beautiful words, thoughts and sentiments but at the end, we did not get anything constructive. Now we need to go back to the drawing board, study the judgement and plan our future strategy.”