The future of Same-sex marriage in India – An analysis with other countries

A marriage is considered to be holy, whether sacrament or contract. Same-sex marriage is the practice of marriage among two men or two women. There has been both strong support and conflict on communal, political, and religious grounds for same-sex marriages. Some jurisdictions through laws either allow same-sex marriages or recognize same-sex civil unions whereas others prescribe punishments for homosexual relationships. Given the lack of globally uniform approaches, there are strong possibilities for conflict and legal contradictions. This study explores the legal status of weddings between people of the same gender in India with the primary aim of examining the judicial decisions and the contribution of the Supreme Court in landmark cases related to same-sex marriages. The Supriyo Chakraborty v. Union of India connected cases (2023) are a collection of significant cases that the Supreme Court of India heard. These cases were brought up to consider the extension of marriage and family rights to individuals belonging to sexual and gender minority groups in India, where same-sex weddings or civil unions are considered illegal. The Supreme Court's rejection to recognize same-sex marriages in this case severely affected the rights of the LGBTQ community in India. This study shall also dwell on the recent developments, particularly regarding the question of marital rights vis-a-vis the case before the judiciary and what could probably be the future course of action in India. In this study, the researcher chooses a hermeneutic research method focusing on the interpretation of statutes and analyzing same-sex marriage rights of different countries with that of India.

这篇文章的研究关注点主要集中在印度同性婚姻的合法化问题，探讨了婚姻作为政治、法律、社会和经济层面的身份认同，尤其是同性婚姻在印度的法律、文化和宗教障碍。文章分析了不同宗教对婚姻的看法，印度的婚姻法及其对跨宗教婚姻的限制，特别是同性婚姻的非法化及其对LGBTQ群体的社会和法律影响。同时，文章也提到了印度社会对同性婚姻的普遍反对，包括法律、家庭和文化的压力，以及同性伴侣面临的财产继承、收养等法律困境。

这篇文章采用了解释学方法对印度LGBT群体婚姻法律的框架进行研究，通过分析现有法律和法院判决，探讨印度婚姻法律中对同性婚姻的规定。此外，文章通过对比发达国家在同性伴侣权益方面的法律框架，评估印度现有法律的缺陷，并尝试提出改进建议。研究还运用了“事后研究”方法，分析与相关法律通过前后的变化，并结合已有的理论和判决，进行比较和学说研究。

这篇研究的发现分为支持同性婚姻合法化和反对同性婚姻的两大论点。支持者认为，根据《印度宪法》中的第14、15、19、21和25条，任何两个人，无论性别或性取向如何，都应有权利结婚，婚姻不应因性取向而受到限制。他们还认为，现行的《特别婚姻法》以及《印度婚姻法》等条款中关于通知和反对的规定侵犯了宪法赋予的基本权利。此外，国际上已有超过40个国家承认同性婚姻，支持者呼吁印度应走向同性婚姻合法化。反对者则认为，同性婚姻不符合印度的传统婚姻观念，且可能引发诸如继承权、税务、财产权等法律问题。部分人认为婚姻的主要功能是生育，而同性伴侣无法自然生育，认为同性婚姻违背了自然法则。此外，宗教和文化的保守观念也导致了对同性婚姻的反对。在法院的裁决中，最高法院认为印度宪法未明确保障同性婚姻的权利，并将决定权交由议会。法院认为，虽然同性婚姻在现行法律下未得到承认，但跨性别者的婚姻权利得到了认可。最终，最高法院以3:2的票数拒绝了对同性婚姻的认可，认为该问题应由议会立法决定。尽管如此，支持同性婚姻的活动人士仍然坚持推进立法改革，主张通过公众倡导、法律挑战和政治变化推动同性婚姻的合法化。