In April 2023, more than 50 people petitioned India’s Supreme Court and fought to legalise homosexual matrimony.

In April 2023, more than 50 people petitioned India’s Supreme Court and fought to legalise homosexual matrimony. On April 18, 2023, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud started hearing 20 petitions filed on the matter. “The case titled, Supriyo a.k.a. Supriya Chakraborty; Abhay Dang v. Union of India thr. its Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice; other connected cases (2023), was a landmark hearing following the Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018) verdict, which struck down Section 377 and decriminalised homosexual sex” (Bhattacharyya, 2023). The petitioners put forth their views on how a vast array of laws in India, such as Article 21, the Special Marriage Act, and the like, are unconstitutional to the extent that they do not acknowledge homosexual marriages. After months of deliberation, the Supreme Court of India declined legal recognition to same-sex unions on October 17, 2023 (Anand, 2025).

As a diverse country, with an even more diverse set of beliefs, one thing that remains for certain is that we all expect our own homeland to give us the freedom to be who we want to be as individuals and to love whom we choose to love, regardless of our differences. Marriage opens up innumerable doors to couples’ psychological well-being, legal rights, medical benefits, and family planning (Guruswamy, 2023). It therefore exists at the core of such opportunities. The question that arises here is: should these boons only be granted to those couples that we deem morally appropriate and denied to the rest?

The same-sex artwork depicted in the temples of Khajuraho, the homosexual illustrations of Kornak’s “Temple of the Sun,” and the caves of Ellora contain artefacts and inscriptions depicting same-sex are a prime example of the tolerance of past societies (Nagarkoti, 2022). This shows that historically there has always been the existence of homosexual relations. There also exist studies that suggest that same-sex behaviours and coupling occur across about 1,500 different animal species (Deutsche Welle, 2017). This goes on to reiterate that homosexuality has always been present since time immemorial. As 2018 marked the end of the criminalisation of homosexuality in India, it signified a major win and a crucial step towards the right direction.

This was indeed a landmark for our society.

Even at the workplace, the community is marginalised to a great extent to date. Discrimination in employment and exclusion from the workforce limit opportunities for economic stability within LGBTQIA+ communities. This contributes to higher rates of unemployment, poverty, housing insecurity, and reliance on public assistance (Medina & Mahowald, 2023). Workplace discrimination and harassment adversely affect LGBTQIA+ employees’ health, well-being, job commitment, satisfaction, and productivity. These direct impacts can subsequently lead to increased costs and other unfavourable consequences for employers too (The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, 2024). Such findings reflect how opportunities for homosexual individuals to reach their full potential in jobs are being withheld from them, with negative effects for both employers and, more importantly, for the individuals themselves.

A study in the Netherlands shows the psychological benefits of legalization. Regardless of whether they were married themselves, simply the legal recognition of same-sex marriage enhanced the mental health of both male and female sexual minorities (Shuai & Van Ours, 2022). The mental health effects of legalization of homosexual marriage are important, as this contributes to subsequent effects on the overall well-being of the queer individuals. Reflecting on mental health issues amongst queer individuals, which are mainly facilitated by discrimination, even the constitution bench unanimously propagated that queer people should be protected from the bias they face. Taking an example of a queer couple, Aditya and Michael, we can see that this holds true as Michael (an American) is not allowed to be an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI).

“But a foreigner who marries an Indian or an Indian Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) holder of the opposite sex immediately gets the right to obtain an OCI and to live in India for as long as they like, open a bank account, hold a job, and purchase property” (Vanita, 2023). Menaka Guruswamy, a queer senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India who fought for the legalization of homosexual marriage in 2023, stated that she could not buy her own family SCBA (Supreme Court Bar Association) medical insurance, being a member of the bar herself (Guruswamy, 2023). Various other rights of buying life insurance, renting accommodation, and opening up a joint bank account are outright denied to homosexual couples. This shows that marriage is not just a status symbol but also a pathway that leads married couples to opportunities they can seize together.

Although consensual activities among queer adults are legal, they are still denied the right to formalize their relationship. Though the court urged the government to have a council in place to look at the problems faced by homosexual couples, it remains doubtful that much would be done on this matter. The ruling party in the country has not been supportive of this decision for a very long time. Even within the bench, the majority held the view that it is not the supreme court’s duty to amend laws (Rajagopal, 2023). The court passed the ball to the legislature, which has also had other ‘important’ matters to look into, and hence this gets passed on to the current government, which already refutes this idea.

Those in power are critical and cautious when it comes to fully adopting new marriage laws for homosexual couples. The representatives of the people cannot make a decision that the society is not ready for. Homosexual marriage challenges traditions of society (as the systematic construct that we know it to be), as households have been functioning for centuries, with a female and male parent at the core of households. Though amending or introducing laws seems like the way, the decision is time-consuming even without its execution. A lot of individuals in society still hold rigid views on adopting change.

Patience is not equivalent to staying restrained. If Indian society is ready for the decriminalisation of homosexual sex, why is it not ready for the legalisation of marriage? It is true that society has been resistant to change because of this traditional functional unit called “family”; however, there are innumerable successful households with single parents. If a single parent can be enough as a good parent, then why can two parents of the same sex not be? If the Hindu Succession Act was not amended in 2005, many would still be succumbing to the idea that female children are not the ‘true’ heirs to their parents’ inheritance. Hence, a society can never be truly ready for any sort of change until it is introduced.

We shouldn’t let reflecting on the way ahead deflect us from the current scenario. We must acknowledge the petitioners who fought for their rights in the Supreme Court in April 2023. It is important to acknowledge that despite the decriminalization of homosexual sex in 2018, discrimination against homosexual couples continues to exist. India continues to view same-sex marriage as illegal. Thus, it becomes all the more important for us to understand the measures we can take now to deal with the situation that we are left with.

By legalising same-sex marriage, India as a country takes a step towards a more just and equal society. When a country truly declares, and we as its citizens truly believe that human rights are for all humans, not just a selected few, we align ourselves with values of inclusion, justice, and equality. Legalising same-sex marriage in India is not just an issue of personal freedom but a vital step toward achieving the aforementioned. Especially when it comes to legal recognition, it would pave the way for more inclusive policies, improve workplace environments, and provide greater stability for the LGBTQIA+ community (Kuttappan & Tiwana, 2025). When these same rights are denied to individuals, we perpetuate outdated thinking and go against the ideals of our constitution that seek to guarantee these very rights. We must support equal marital rights for all, regardless of their sexual orientation, regardless of if our beliefs align with others, as the effects of a life-altering decision go beyond our individual differences. It is critical to understand that not taking a stand towards it is taking a stand against it.

Works Cited

• Anand, U. (2025, January 9). SC declines to reconsider verdict that denied same-sex marriage recognition. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-declines-to-reconsider-verdict-that-denied-legal-recognition-to-same-sex-marriage-.
• Bhattacharyya, A. (2023, October 18). Queer couple on same-sex marriage verdict: We have lost, yet we remain hopeful. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/we-have-lost-yet-we-remain-hopeful-says-petitioner-on-same-sex-mar.
• Deutsche Welle. (2017, August 2). “10 Animal Species That Show How Being Gay Is Natural.” DW. https://www.dw.com/en/10-animal-species-that-show-how-being-gay-is-natural/g-39934832.
• Guruswamy, M. (2023, May 3).“Menaka Guruswamy’s case for same-sex marriage.” YouTube, uploaded by Brut India. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=UwPU4AtNvWA.
• Kuttappan, S. & Tiwana, D.P. (2025). “The Future of Same-Sex Marriage in India—An Analysis with Other Countries.” Social Sciences & Humanities Open. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291124004340#:~:text=% E2%80%9CSame% 2Dsex%20marriage% E2%80%9D%20is,unfairness%2 0against%20them% 20in%20society.
• Medina, C. & Mahowald, L. (2023, January 12). Discrimination and Barriers to Well-Being: The State of the LGBTQI+ Community in 2022. Centre for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/discrimination-and-barriers-to-well-being-the-state-of-the-lgbtqi-community-in.
• Nagarkoti, N. (2022, May 20). “Should same-sex marriage be legalised in India?” Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research. https://www.ijllr.com/papers/categories/volume-iv-issue-ii/page/4.
• Rajagopal, K. (2023, October 17). “Same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court’s majority view holds that it cannot legalise queer unions.” The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/same-sex-marriage-sc-against-legalising-queer-unions-leaves-task-to-parliament/article674.
• Shuai, C. & Van Ours, J.C. (2022, January 31). “Mental health effects of same-sex marriage legalisation.” Health economics. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34628683/#:~:text=Conducting% 20a% 20difference%2Din%2 Ddifferences,orientation% 20gap%20of% 20mental%20health.
• The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. (2024, August). LGBTQ People’s experiences of workplace discrimination and harassment. Williams Institute. https://williamsinstitute. law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-workplace-discrimination/.
• Vanita, R. (2023, October 18). “Same-sex marriages exist despite prejudice.” Hindustan Times. https://www.hindust-antimes.com /opinion/samesex-marriages-exist-despite-prejudice-101697.

Authors: Prof. Moitrayee Das, Faculty of Psychology, FLAME University, & Kairav Negi, Undergraduate Student, FLAME University.