- By Soutik Biswas
- India correspondent
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Indian LGBTQ+ activists and couples hoped for a positive verdict from the Supreme Court
October 18, 2023, 05:25 BST
Updated 1 hour ago
On Tuesday, India’s Supreme Court rejected the legalization of same-sex marriage, disappointing millions of LGBTQ+ couples and activists. Although these unions may still lack legal sanction in India, they were far from rare centuries ago, experts say.
When author and activist Ruth Vanita attended and taught at Delhi University from the 1970s to 1996, “same-sex love was almost never mentioned in the academy.”
Around the same time, she became involved in the women’s movement and noticed that “there was a similar silence in feminist politics at the time, both left and right.”
“Many of the leading activists in women’s groups were lesbians, but they never mentioned or discussed this in activist forums,” wrote Prof. Vanita, who now teaches at the University of Montana, in a 2004 essay.
Fourteen years later, in a historic decision, India’s Supreme Court ruled that gay sex was no longer a crime, overturning a 2013 ruling that upheld a colonial-era law – known as Section 377 – that made gay sex a crime was classified as an “unnatural” crime.
While some in India expressed concerns that the repeal of the colonial-era law was pushing the country to adopt Western ideals of liberalism, Prof. Vanita argued that history actually proves otherwise.
Together with historian Saleem Kidwai, Prof. Vanita worked on Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History, a collection of translations of texts in 15 Indian languages, supplemented by essays that explained and analyzed the material. “We have shown conclusively that same-sex love and romantic friendship flourished in various forms in ancient and medieval India, without a long history of persecution,” writes Prof. Vanita.
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There are depictions of homosexuality in Khajuraho temples, say historians
This sentiment was echoed by historian Rana Safvi when she told the BBC in 2018 that “love is celebrated in every form in India.” She said: “Whether it was ancient or medieval India, there was fluid sexuality in the society. One can see the depictions of homosexuality in the temples of Khajuraho and in the Mughal chronicles.”
On Tuesday even the judges agreed. “Queerness is a natural phenomenon that has existed in India since ancient times,” said Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. Judge SK Kaul added: “The significant point is that same-sex partnerships were recognized in ancient times not just as unions that facilitate sexual activity, but as relationships that promote love, emotional support and mutual care.”
In an article about same-sex relationships in India, particularly within Hindu culture, Prof. Vanita claims that the Indian view of sex and love underwent a “radical” change during British rule in the country. “Indian nationalists adopted the Victorian ideals of heterosexual monogamy and rejected anything in indigenous traditions that seemed to contradict these ideas,” she noted. Author Devdutt Patnaik says a “survey of temple images, sacred tales and religious scriptures suggests that homosexual activity existed – in some form – in ancient India.”
The 4th-century Kama Sutra, the world’s oldest textbook on erotic love, mentions that “two friendly men who are benevolent to one another and have complete trust in one another can unite each other.” Prof. Vanita writes that she has found evidence in ancient texts that “parents accept their children’s caste and class marriages on the grounds that the young people must have been spouses of the same caste and class in a previous life.” These texts also explain that same-sex bonds can last a lifetime.
In 1988, newspapers reported what was believed to be the earliest documented same-sex marriage in modern-day India: a small ceremony in Madhya Pradesh at which two policewomen, Leela Namdeo and Urmila Srivastava, celebrated their marriage.
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The Kama Sutra, the world’s oldest textbook on erotic love, mentions same-sex relationships
The two were suspended from their jobs despite support from friends and family. One of her neighbors, a married teacher, said to a journalist: “After all, what is marriage? It is a marriage of two souls. Where in the Bible does it say it has to be between a man and a woman?” ”
Prof. Vanita points out that the media has since reported on a number of such weddings in various parts of the country, mostly involving young Hindu women. These brides are largely from lower middle class backgrounds in small towns and have limited English skills. However, many have some level of education and are employed, and notably, none of them have ties to women’s or LGBTQ+ advocacy movements. However, these marriages have no legal significance.
At the same time, many same-sex couples in various parts of India have been driven to commit suicide, similar to mixed-sex couples – because “romantic love itself is seen as contrary to societal norms.”
Prof. Vanita told me she remembers “the hundreds of young couples, mostly women, who have committed joint suicide since at least the 1980s – and this continues to this day – because they were not allowed to marry. And I would also like to pay tribute to the many other couples who have done so.” I have been married according to Hindu rites since at least 1987, when same-sex marriage was not yet recognized anywhere in the world. These “lower-income, non-English-speaking couples are the true pioneers of marriage equality in India.”
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The Indian government has offered to set up a body to consider granting rights and benefits to same-sex couples
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said legalizing same-sex marriage was the responsibility of Parliament. Instead, the court accepted the government’s offer to set up a panel to examine the granting of social and legal rights and benefits to same-sex couples.
“I’m disappointed, but not entirely surprised. Public opinion supports marriage equality, but like all political parties, it is deeply divided. “India is, to my knowledge, the only country where marriage equality applicants include people from the far right to the far left and everything in between,” said Prof. Vanita.
Since 2001, 34 countries have legalized same-sex marriage. India will have to wait to join them: the success of this movement depends on politicians accelerating the change in public opinion. But anti-discrimination rules would be a good start.
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