Marriage Equality In India And The Constitutional And Legal Challenges For LGBTQIA+ Individuals
Mohd Mustafa, Research Scholar, Law, Maharshi Dayanand University, Centre for Professional & Allied Studies (MDU-CPAS), Gurugram
Prof. Dr. Virender Sindhu, Professor (Law), Maharshi Dayanand University, Centre for Professional & Allied Studies (MDU-CPAS), Gurugram
ABSTRACT
After the landmark decriminalisation of consensual same-sex intimacy in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India and the recognition of transgender identity in NALSA v. Union of India, the struggle for LGBTQIA+ equality in India has now shifted to the legal recognition of non-heterosexual relationships. However, the scholarship is mainly preoccupied with the judicial enforcement of constitutional morality, and does not examine the structural and statutory impediments that still exist in the gender-binary personal and secular marriage laws in the post-Supriyo v. Union of India verdict. This article examines the constitutional, statutory and institutional restrictions of marriage equality in India and the ways in which the current legislative architecture systematically excludes LGBT couples from marriage and marriage-related rights. The paper uses a doctrinal, comparative constitutional and case-law analysis to compare the Indian legislative framework with the experiences in South Africa, the United States and Taiwan. The study concludes that while the judiciary has strengthened the constitutional principles of dignity, privacy and equality, the gender- binary language of current marriage regulations poses an insurmountable interpretation challenge. Thus, judicial interpretation cannot fill the void; only thorough legislative reform can provide rights to marriage, to adoption and to spousal benefits. This article’s unique contribution lies in refocusing scholarly attention away from judicial activism and toward legislative necessity and in providing a clear, policy-oriented strategy for statute reform to advance substantive equality.
Keywords: Marriage Equality, LGBTQIA+ Rights, Transformative Constitutionalism, Supriyo v. Union of India, Special Marriage Act, Personal Laws, Comparative Constitutional Law, Legislative Reform.
