There’s a mountain to climb for same-sex couples, as the Indian government opposes the legal recognition of same-sex marriages in the country.
In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Centre said same-sex relations and heterosexual relations are a “distinctive” class of relationships and cannot be treated identically.
The petitioners cannot assert a basic right for same-sex marriage to be recognised under national legislation, the administration claimed, notwithstanding the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian Criminal Code.
While many same-sex couples are forced to wait until it is legal, some have been together for years in many nations where it is.
According to USA Today, Netherlands was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage.
The US Supreme Court recognised gay marriage in 2015, stating that restricting marriage to just heterosexual couples violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.
Taiwan, a country regarded as a hub for LGBTQ life, legalised gay marriage in 2019. People go from all around Asia to Taiwan for the yearly pride march.
A measure legalising same-sex marriage was approved by the Australia’s Parliament on 7 December 2017, three weeks after a national referendum revealed that 62 per cent of Australians favoured marriage equality.
Although though Canada’s federal government granted same-sex couples common law marriage privileges in 1999, it wasn’t until 2005 that the Parliament made same-sex marriage legal across the country.
A majority of voters in Germany approved legislation that legalised same-sex marriage a few days after then Chancellor Angela Merkel changed her mind about supporting the measure.
After months of discussion, a same-sex marriage bill was approved by the British Parliament in July 2013 and ratified by the Queen the following day.
On 17 April 2013, New Zealand passed the Marriage Act of 1955 Amendment Act, which upgraded the definition of marriage to “the union of two people, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”
Although civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples were permitted in Austria as of 2010, a 2017 court decision ruled that they were discriminatory.