It wasn\u2019t love at first sight when Aditi Anand met Susan Dias at a book club in Mumbai. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t get along with each other at all,\u201d Anand, a filmmaker, said with a smile as she recalled the encounter. \u201cWe were always antagonistic toward each other\u2019s views on the books we were reading.\u201d <\/p>\n
Weeks later, when the two women bumped into each other at a phone shop, Dias even <\/strong>ignored Anand. <\/p>\n \u201cShe tried so hard not to acknowledge me. But unfortunately, or rather fortunately for both of us, we found each other at the phone counter,\u201d Anand said. \u201cWe said hi and exchanged numbers.\u201d <\/p>\n More than a decade later, Anand and Dias have built a life together. They have co-founded their own companies, are raising a son, own a home and have adopted a dog. <\/p>\n But there\u2019s one thing they have not been able to do in their home country: marry. <\/p>\n India, the world\u2019s largest democracy and most populous country, does not recognize same-sex marriage, effectively barring millions of LGBTQ couples from accessing some of the legal benefits attached to matrimony in relation to issues like adoption, insurance and inheritance. <\/p>\n In Dias and Anand\u2019s case, for instance, under the present law only one of them is recognized as their son\u2019s legal parent, which affects issues like who can make medical decisions on his behalf. <\/p>\n However, things could be about to change. <\/p>\n In a landmark case being live-streamed to the public and watched by tens of thousands of people every day, India\u2019s Supreme Court has since April been hearing submissions from activists challenging the law. <\/p>\n Advocates acting on behalf of 18 petitioners say it\u2019s time for India to treat the country\u2019s LGBTQ community as equal citizens under its constitution. <\/p>\n But they\u2019re up against a tough opponent: the ruling government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which argues that same-sex marriage is a \u201cWestern\u201d concept without \u201cany basis\u201d in the constitution. It told the court in a recent submission such unions were an \u201curban\u201d and \u201celitist\u201d concept, and therefore not welcome in the country. <\/p>\n A ruling by the court is expected soon. <\/p>\n If the activists are successful, it could change the fabric of what is traditionally a deeply conservative country. <\/p>\n \u201cI want my son to have two legitimate, lawful parents,\u201d said Dias who, like Anand, is among the 18 petitioners. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why this petition is important to us.\u201d <\/p>\n Indian attitudes to LGBTQ issues are complex. <\/p>\n Hindu mythology dating back centuries features men transforming into women and holy texts feature third gender characters. But same-sex intercourse was criminalized and marriage rights limited to heterosexual couples under a penal code introduced by India\u2019s British former colonial leaders in 1860. <\/p>\n Since then, India\u2019s LGBTQ community \u2013 likely one of the world\u2019s largest given its population of 1.4 billion people \u2013 has faced widespread marginalization from society. <\/p>\n Both those elements of the colonial-era penal code remained in force even 70 years after India gained independence in 1947 (and years after they were abandoned by the former colonizer \u2013 with England and Wales legalizing same-sex intercourse in 1967 and same-sex marriage in 2013). <\/p>\n During nearly a decade in power, Indian leader Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP party have been keen to shake off India\u2019s colonial baggage, renaming streets and cities and championing an India in charge of its own destiny. But Victorian laws governing same-sex marriage are one throwback to the colonial past his party has fought to retain. <\/p>\n In 2017, when the couple Vishwa and Vivek got married, homosexuality was still a crime \u2013 punishable by up to 10 years in prison. They held an intimate Hindu ceremony at Vishwa\u2019s parents apartment just outside of New Delhi, inviting only some of their closest friends and family. <\/p>\n \u201cWe had to do it very quickly. It had to be brief,\u201d said Vivek, who works for an NGO. \u201cMy family was not present.\u201d <\/p>\n That same year, award-winning Indian filmmaker Karan Johar wrote about what it meant to be gay in India. <\/p>\n \u201cEverybody knows what my sexual orientation is,\u201d he wrote in his memoir \u201cAn Unsuitable Boy.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t need to scream it out\u2026. I won\u2019t, only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this.\u201d <\/p>\n But there are signs attitudes are beginning to change. <\/p>\n In 2018, after a decade-long battle, the Supreme Court struck down the colonial-era law that criminalized same-sex intercourse \u2013 though it left intact the legislation limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. <\/p>\n In recent years same-sex relationships have been increasingly embraced both by Bollywood, the country\u2019s highly influential Hindi-film industry, and major cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru, which celebrate pride month with parades and large-scale events. <\/p>\n Vishwa says these are big wins for the community and have encouraged efforts to change the law further, even in the face of strong government opposition. Even a ruling against the petitioners might have a silver lining, he said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt might not be a win. Most of us have made peace with it,\u201d Vishwa said. \u201cBut we know that any positive statement made by the Supreme Court will benefit us in the future and we are very ready to continue fighting.\u201d <\/p>\n Whatever the court decides, its ruling will affect millions of people in India for generations to come. <\/p>\n Advocates say a positive ruling will give legitimacy and more influence to the countless Indians who presently struggle to come to terms with their sexuality and face harassment on the streets, in schools and in the workplace. <\/p>\n Celebrity chef and LGBTQ activist Suvir Saran is among those critical of the government\u2019s stance, saying it is sending a message that India doesn\u2019t accept people the way they are. <\/p>\n In rural pockets of the country, where discrimination is widespread, the ramifications of coming out can be particularly dire, Saran says. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re coming from a place with no access to quality education, or just any of the basic amenities of life, you\u2019re broken. You\u2019re broken even before you get to your sexuality,\u201d Saran said. <\/p>\n Anish Gawde, founder of Pink List India, an organization that tracks the LGBTQ views of Indian politicians, said many people without support have been driven from their homes and forced to live a life of seclusion. <\/p>\n \u201cMarriage equality is in fact more important to these tens of thousands of queer people in India,\u201d Gawde said. \u201cThey love and continue to love despite social stigma and oppression.\u201d <\/p>\n Vivek hopes a positive ruling would legitimize his relationship with his husband in the eyes of the wider public. <\/p>\n \u201cI want to be known as the partner of Vishwa in the eyes of the law,\u201d he said. \u201cMarriage is a social contract. It\u2019s also a financial contract. The rights given to heterosexual couples are so significant for people like us to build a life together.\u201d <\/p>\n Since petitioning the top court, Dias said she has realized that they are not doing this for themselves, but for the millions of people who don\u2019t have the means to fight. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really become a collective action now. I\u2019m doing this for those who cannot, as much as I\u2019m doing it for myself,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Anand agreed, adding that what started off as a conversation in their home has morphed into a movement that has united India\u2019s LGBTQ community. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are asking can we be equal?\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n It wasn\u2019t love at first sight when Aditi Anand met Susan Dias at a book club in Mumbai. \u201cWe didn\u2019t get along with each other at all,\u201d Anand, a filmmaker, said with a smile as she recalled the encounter. \u201cWe were always antagonistic toward each other\u2019s views on the books we were reading.\u201d Weeks later, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} A complex relationship<\/h2>\n
Fighting \u2018for those who cannot\u2019<\/h2>\n