Four gay couples have asked India's Supreme Court to recognise same-sex marriages, setting the stage for a legal face-off with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government which has in the past refused to legalise such marriages.
In a historic verdict in 2018, India's top court decriminalised homosexuality by scrapping a colonial-era ban on gay sex.
In three Supreme Court filings seen by Reuters, the couples say that without legal recognition of being married, they are denied rights such as those linked to medical consent, pensions, adoption or even simpler things like club memberships for couples. Another couple, Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang, say in their submission that they held a two-day commitment ceremony last year like any other "Big Fat Indian wedding", but once the euphoria faded, they realised they could not take health insurance as couples or nominate each other in life insurance policies.The four gay couples want a Supreme Court ruling that modifies or interprets laws in a way that allows same-gender marriages, the court filings show.
The Indian Supreme Court cases, which follow many lawsuits filed in lower courts where no decision was reached, will be a key test for Modi's Hindu nationalist government and his allies. In one state court filing last year, the law ministry said a marriage depends on "age-old customs rituals" and a sexual relationship between same-sex individuals is "not comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children."
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