Centre’s Opposition to Same-sex Marriage

Context

Recently, the Center at the Supreme Court disapproved of same-sex marriage in a recent ruling, citing the prevailing belief in India that a marriage between a biological man and woman is a sacred union, a religious sacrament, and a sanskar.

• This statement came in response to the Court’s decision to examine petitions to allow the solemnization of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act.

Probable Question

Explain the conditions related to the solemnization of special marriages as given in the Special Marriage Act of 1954. (150 words, 10 marks)

About the Center on same-sex Marriage

• In our country, despite statutory recognition of the relationship of marriage between a biological man and a biological woman, marriage necessarily depends upon age-old customs, rituals, practices, cultural ethos, and societal values. 
• Any “deviation” from this “statutorily, religiously, and socially” accepted norm in “human relationships” can only happen through the legislature and not the Supreme Court.
• Living together as partners and having a sexual relationship by same-sex individuals is not comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife, and children
• The court, while decriminalizing homosexuality persons in its 2018 judgment in Navtej Singh Johar, had never accepted same-sex marriage as part of the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• The Parliament has designed and framed the marriage laws in the country, to recognize only the union of a man and a woman to be capable of legal sanction. Any interference with the same would cause a violation of personal laws in the country and in accepted societal values.

Also read: First Amendment to Constitution Challenged

Arguments Supporting same-sex Marriages

• Discrimination: It is argued that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage amounted to discrimination that struck at the root of the dignity and self-fulfillment of LBTQ+ couples.
• Equality: The petitioners had said the Special Marriage Act of 1954 should grant same-sex couples the same protection it allowed inter-caste and inter-faith couples who want to marry.
• Neither affection nor desire can be mandated by the law and hence, neither the choice of partner nor the gender of the partner nor the relationship between the two can be mandated by the law. 
• The government’s argument that the right to equality as embodied in Article 14 is not violated by the status quo because “same-sex relationships and heterosexual relationships are clearly distinct classes which cannot be treated identically" goes backward. 

Arguments Opposing same-sex Marriages

• In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center across 34 countries between May 13 and October 2, 2019, only 37% of respondents from India said that homosexuality should be accepted by society.
• It is argued that recognition of same-sex marriage would have an impact on a statute like the one for adoption.
• Same-sex marriage opponents contend that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman and that legalizing same-sex unions is in opposition to cultural and religious values. 
• Additionally, they contend that same-sex unions compromise the institution of marriage and might have detrimental effects on society as a whole.

Global Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage

• Currently 32 countries around the world have legalized same-sex marriages, some through legislation while others through judicial pronouncements. 
• These countries are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay. 
• The Netherlands was the first country in 2000 to legalize same-sex marriage. 
• In Asia, Taiwan was the first country to recognize such unions in 2019.

Also read: Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution- NCERT Notes UPSC

Way Forward

• The constitutional principles which have led to decriminalizing homosexuality must continuously engage in a rights discourse to ensure that same-sex relationships find true fulfillment in every facet of life. 
• The law must also take positive steps to achieve equal protection.

News Source: The Hindu

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/same-sex-marriages-can-rock-societal-values-centre/article66610499.ece

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