Yet many say they still fear coming out in largely conservative India where discrimination and abuse prevent LGBTQ people from accessing jobs, healthcare, education and housing. LGBTQ Indians have made significant strides since the 2018 gay sex ruling, from their portrayal on television to more representation in politics and inclusive corporate policies.
If the couple win their case, India would become the second place in Asia after Taiwan in 2019 to recognize gay marriage.
We want to go out for work and come back home and have our spouse there, have our kids there and sit around and have a family dinner and watch TV together.” “There is a fundamental right to marry and we should be afforded that right to marry just like any other heterosexual couple,” Saattvic said in a video call from Vancouver in Canada. That is why Saattvic, who goes by one name, asked the Delhi high court to allow him to marry his boyfriend - one of six petitions made by LGBTQ couples in September 2020 to legalize same-sex marriage, with a final hearing due Tuesday. Same-sex marriages are illegal in India despite the Supreme Court scrapping a colonial-era ban on gay sex in 2018 - a decision that LGBTQ Indians say they had hoped would pave the way for more equal rights, including marriage and adoption.