美国国家公共电台 NPR--Will India legalize same-sex marriage? Its top court hears arguments this week

Will India legalize same-sex marriage? Its top court hears arguments this week

Transcript¹

India's Supreme² Court is hearing final arguments this week in a historic group of petitions to legalize same-sex marriage.

It's a consolidation³ of cases brought by several LGTBQ couples and opposed by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"These petitions are basically asking that the right to marry a person of one's own choice should be extended to LGBTQ citizens as well," says freelance journalist Shalu Yadav, who's been watching the trial from New Delhi.

India's government put its LGBTQ population at 2.5 million in 2012, and more recent global estimates say it could be at least 10% of the country, or more than 135 million people.

The hearings are being livestreamed online in what the court calls the public interest. It's not clear when or how the five-judge panel will rule.

Notably⁴, this same court granted certain rights to the transgender community in 2014, declared privacy a constitutional right in 2017, decriminalized gay sex in 2018 and expanded protections for "atypical" families in 2022.

A favorable decision in this case would make India the 35th country worldwide and the second place in Asia to allow marriage equality, after Taiwan's parliament passed such a bill in 2019.

And, as NPR has reported, it would also mean an overhaul⁵ of many Indian laws governing things like parenthood, inheritance, alimony and divorce.

Here's what else we know so far.

The plaintiffs want equal rights

The four couples serving as plaintiffs in the case argue they're being discriminated⁶ against by being denied the same legal rights as straight married couples.

It's been almost five years since the Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era ban on gay sex. Even so, the LGBTQ community still doesn't have equal rights when it comes to things like inheritance, divorce, property ownership and adoption⁷.

"It's simple things ... like getting a joint⁸ bank account or health insurance or owning a house together, which cannot be done as a same sex couple because their union is not recognized in Indian law," Yadav tells Morning Edition.

For example, current Indian law only recognizes one member of a same-sex couple as a parent, either because they gave birth to their child or adopted them as a single parent.

Plaintiffs Aditi Anand and Susan Dias told NPR last month that they're taking up this fight because they do everything heterosexual couples do, but without legal security. And that includes raising their toddler.

"There is no reason that our child should be denied the right to two parents," Anand said.

The Indian Psychiatric Society, the country's largest organization of mental health professionals, issued a statement last week reiterating⁹ that homosexuality is not a disease and that denying people their civil rights may lead to mental health issues.

That declaration could be significant, the BBC notes: The Supreme Court's judgement decriminalizing gay sex referred to a statement of support from the same organization.

Government and religious groups are opposed

India's socially conservative government is against the legalization of same-sex marriage, and questions whether the court (as opposed to parliament) has the right to decide it at all.

Modi's position is that same-sex relationships can't be compared to the sacred Indian family concept of "a wife, a husband and children born out of the union," Yadav explains.

The government rejects the argument that marriage equality is a fundamental right, even writing in a recent filing that the "petitions merely reflect urban elitist views" — which has evoked¹⁰ strong reactions from the LGBTQ community and beyond. Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Sikh and Christian¹¹ leaders have also joined together to oppose legalization, raising concerns about what it would mean for procreation and the "natural family order."

One Muslim body told the court that the concept of same-sex marriage would essentially¹² "attack" the Indian family system, Yadav says.

"They say that if legalized, same-sex marriages will dilute¹³ the concept of marriage — which is a stable institution, as per them — and bring in a free-floating system that will be harmful, according to them, to the social order," she adds.

How we got here

Indian attitudes towards LGBTQ people have grown more tolerant in recent years.

The Pew Research Center found that 37% of Indian people said homosexuality should be accepted by society in 2019, a large jump from just 15% in 2014.

Yadav says that while conversations around LGBTQ rights have accelerated in the last decade or so, the country still has some distance to go.

"The attitudes have definitely changed on the ground, but we still hear about cases of attacks on same-sex couples and there's a general resistance to the idea of recognizing them in the institution of marriage," she adds.

Plaintiffs have tried to bring the issue of marriage equality before the country's top court since 2020.

Yadav says that last year a growing number of petitions to legalize same-sex marriage made their way to city courts and the Supreme Court, which decided¹⁴ to bundle them together into the case it's hearing now.

India isn't the only Asian country that could be moving — albeit¹⁵ slowly — towards marriage equality. The Human Rights Campaign says it's also "tracking developments" in Japan, Thailand and the Philippines.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

4 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

5 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

6 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

7 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 reiterating   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He keeps reiterating his innocence. 他一再申明他无罪。
• The Chinese government also sent a note to the British government, reiterating its position. 中国政府同时将此立场照会英国政府。

10 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

13 dilute   

vt.稀释，冲淡；adj.稀释的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The water will dilute the wine.水能使酒变淡。
• Zinc displaces the hydrogen of dilute acids.锌置换了稀酸中的氢。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。