Same-sex marriage: What Opposition parties feel about legalising gay marriage

Currently, a 5-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions for the legalisation of same-sex marriageTrinamool Congress and the CPI(M) are the only Opposition parties that have been vocal about their support for same-sex marriage to be legalisedTMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien recently tabled a private member’s Bill for legalisation of same-sex marriageNCP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule had also tabled a private member’s Bill seeking marriage equality in April 2022Most other Opposition parties like Congress, DMK, AIADMK, NCP, BJD and RJD have refrained from taking an official standHowever, many MPs have expressed their individual stance on the issueIn this podcast, a rundown of where India’s political parties stand on marriage equalityCurrently, a five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is hearing a batch of petitions for the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The petitioners appealed to the Court to extend marriage rights to LGBTQ folks by way of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which already has provisions for couples who cannot marry under the existing religion-bound personal marriage laws. In the Special Marriage Act, they proposed replacing the words “husband and wife” with “spouse” and the words “man and woman” with “persons” to allow same-sex couples to get legally married. Even though individual politicians have different personal opinions on the issue, most Opposition parties have refrained from taking an official stand on whether same-sex marriage should be legalised, like Congress, Tamil Nadu’s DMK and AIADMK, Maharashtra’s NCP, Odisha’s BJD, and Bihar’s RJD. However, the Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar have said they will most likely oppose it, and Telangana’s BRS have said they will support the Supreme Court’s decision, whatever it may be. Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M) are the only Opposition parties that have so far vocalised their support for same-sex marriage to be legalised. The BJP government, however, has made it amply clear that it is opposed to the legalisation of same-sex marriage. They cited many reasons, like how, according to them, same-sex marriage is an urban elitist concept and legalising it would wreak complete havoc in Indian society. They also said there’s simply no room for legalising same-sex marriage in a country like India where the notion of marriage itself is defined as a union between a biological man and a biological woman. This is despite Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code being struck down and homosexuality being decriminalised in 2018. But even then, the government feels that the petitioners cannot seek same-sex marriage to be treated as a fundamental right and be recognised under the laws of the country.The BJP’s ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS, recently stated similar views. According to the Press Trust of India, a top official of the RSS, Dattatreya Hosabale, was quoted saying this: “Marriage can only take place between persons of opposite genders, we agree with the government's stance on same-sex marriage.” Earlier in January though, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said the LGBTQ community should “have their own private and social space as they are humans and have the right to live as others.” The Opposition parties have come out with different views on legalising same-sex marriage. Recently, in an event, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee endorsed marriage equality for same-sex couples. Parallely, TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien has introduced a private member Bill in Parliament, in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. However, chief minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters that she will refrain from commenting on the issue before the Supreme Court lays out its verdict. Next we have the Communist Party of India or the CPI. The CPI put out a statement on March 15 this year in support of marriage equality, being one of the only Opposition parties to do so. The statement said this: “The CPI urges the Supreme Court and the Government of India to fully protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. The BJP government is pulling back progress and subverting democracy in the country.’’ The Nationalist Congress Party or the NCP has not formally supported or opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage. But Supriya Sule, the party’s Lok Sabha MP, had introduced a private member’s bill in Parliament just last year, to recognise same-sex marriages under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Now let’s go to Bihar and Jharkhand, where we have the RJD, the Rashtriya Janata Dal. When we at The Times of India asked RJD’s national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary about the party’s stance on the issue, he said no discussion has taken place within the party on the matter. But personally, he criticised BJP’s approach on the same sex marriage and said it was not right. Tiwary said how scientifically it has been proven that a small percentage has a sexual orientation towards the same sex. He said, “They should be allowed to stay as a husband and wife, if they wish so”. He added that if consensual sex has been allowed between two couples in private, then same sex marriage should be the next step. Tiwary even advised to note the result in other countries where same-sex marriage is legal. RJD’s national spokesperson Prof Subodh Kumar Mehta, said this, however: “The matter is sub judice. So it is not with the tune of the ethos of the judiciary that we should comment on the sub-judice matter. Henceforth let the verdict come, and hopefully whatever the verdict will be, it will be binding on all of us.” Meanwhile, the Lok Janshakti Party of Bihar, hasn't made its stand clear with regard to the same-sex marriages. But a top party official told TOI that it is most likely to oppose it. The party’s national senior vice-president and national chief spokesperson Arvind Kumar Bajpai said: “We have not decided over the issue but most probably, we will be opposing it. We will oppose it…We should oppose it given our culture and social framework.” Bajpai, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, also said, “Unnatural sex has been described as a criminal offence under Section 377 of the IPC.” It is important to note that in 2018, the Supreme Court had struck down Section 377 and decriminalised homosexuality.Although the Congress as a party has not publicly supported the petitioners for same-sex marriage yet, some of its MPs have stated their personal stance on the issue. Take Shashi Tharoor for example. Tharoor’s party colleague, Congress MP Manish Tewari also said, that personally, he is in favour of same-sex marriage. In fact Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi is appearing as lead counsel for one of the petitioners of same sex marriage. However, he also separated his personal views from that of his party’s. In Odisha too, the ruling party Biju Janata Dal that is the BJD has not taken a stance on same-sex marriage. But senior BJD member and party spokesperson, Prasanna Acharya, has shared his personal views with The Times of India. He said: “You see our Indian society, our social structure and fabric is old and our culture is old. We cannot compare our society and our culture with that of the Western countries. What is fit and genuine for Western society may not be fit and genuine for our Indian society.”Let’s now move southwards, to the Telugu states. The Lok Sabha floor leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the BRS, Nama Nageshwar Rao said the party will go by the Supreme Court verdict on same sex marriage. Nageshwar Rao said since the issue will have national wide implications, the Centre and Supreme Court has to take a call on this issue and the BRS does not want to get into it. He said, “This is not a political issue like reservations where the political parties and government's opinion matters. The Centre wrote to the state governments to tell their opinions on the same sex marriage and informed the SC. I think all the state governments’ say they will go by the SC's verdict whatever.”Most other regional parties which TOI approached have refused to take a stand on the matter. For example, in Tamil Nadu, the DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi told TOI that the party was yet to take a stand on this issue. He said, “We haven’t decided yet. CM M K Stalin would announce it once we take a decision.”Similarly, the AIADMK is yet to take an official decision on the same-sex marriage. Senior party leaders told The Times of India that the concept of same-sex marriage was against India’s culture and would change the perception of India. They also expressed their concern about the emotional impact on the adopted child of the same-sex couple.Audio production: Shantanu Nanoti