SAME SEX MARRIAGE

                                                  SAME SEX MARRIAGE  

WHAT IS SAME SEX MARRIAGE?

Same-sex marriage is marriage between partners of the same sex and/or gender identity. For example, a marriage between two men or two women. 

SUPREME COURT VERDICT ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday announced a 3:2 verdict on petitions seeking the rights for members of the LGBTQ community to marry and choose family. The Court declined to legalise same-sex marriage, placing it upon the Parliament and State governments to decide if non-heterosexual unions can be legally recognised.  Though all five judges agreed that homosexuality was neither an urban nor elitist concept they differed on the point whether the court can obligate the State to formally recognise the relationship of queer couples by giving it the legal status of a “civil union” or “marriage.

As the Special Marriage Act of 1954 was not unconstitutional for excluding same-sex marriages. They said that tinkering with the Special Marriage Act of 1954 to bring same-sex unions within its ambit would not be advisable. the two judges held that the right to enter into a union cannot be restricted on the basis of sexual orientation. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is violative of Article 15 of the Constitution, the Chief Justice said The 3 judge disagreed on the point, holding that it was for the legislature, and not the Court, to formally recognise and grant legal status to non-heterosexual relationships.Chief Justice concluded, in his opinion, that the court could neither strike down or read words into the Special Marriage Act to include same-sex members within the ambit of the 1954 law.

The Bench nevertheless unanimously agreed that same sex couples face discrimination and harassment in their daily lives. The court urged the government to form a high-powered committee chaired by the Union Cabinet Committee to expeditiously look into genuine human concerns faced by same-sex partners.

The CJI added that the SC cannot strike down the provisions of the Special Marriage Act (SMA) or read words differently. The focus of the petitions filed is the gender-neutral interpretation of the SMA. It is a secular legislation designed to facilitate inter-caste and inter-faith marriages. The petitioners have sought a broader interpretation of the SMA to include same-sex marriages too.

MY POV:

I THINK SC SHOULD HAS GIVEN THE VERDICT FOR OR AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE INSTEAD OF JUST GIVING OPTION ABOUT AND LEAVING THE CASE AS IT IS.