'All or nothing’: Top chef who helped repeal Section 377 weds partner of 10 years

Ritu Dalmia was among several petitioners whose PIL in the SC brought a culmination to the long battle to decriminalise adult consensual same-sex relationships

Restaurateur and Indo-Italian gastronomy savant, Ritu Dalmia, whose petition helped decriminalise same-sex relationships in India in 2018, married her partner Michaela Tedson in South Africa on November 5.

Michaela Tedson and Michaela Tedson (COURTESY: RITU DALMIA)

Dalmia was one among several petitioners whose public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court brought a culmination to the decades-long battle for decriminalisation of adult consensual same-sex relationships.

Dalmia posted photos of herself and her partner of 10 years at South Africa’s Leeu Estates Hotel in Franschhoek. Surrounded by friends and family, Dalmia wore a long black coat over a waistcoat and gaily striped pants while Tedson was dressed in bright red layered dress with oversized dots.

“We decided to elope and get married, and it was fabulous,” Dalmia said.

Dalmia and Tedson, a German national, live in Goa with their four dogs and three cats.

While Germany recognises same-sex marriages, India does not.

“We chose South Africa because the country is very close to our hearts. It’s one of the first in the world where gay people were legally protected,” Dalmia said.

In 1996, South Africa’s newly adopted constitution guaranteed safeguards against discrimination based on race, gender, sex, language, birth, marital status, religion, belief, culture as well as sexual orientation, making it the first country in the world to extend such protection to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community. However, recognition of same-sex marriages only followed more a decade later.

Last year, the top court declined to recognise the right of LGBTQIA+ persons to marry under the Special Marriage Act (SMA) and held that marriage is not a fundamental right.

In 2018, a five-judge bench led by former Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalised “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, a clause long interpreted as referring to homosexuality.

Dalmia, whose famous Diva brand serves up Italian food to Indians and Italians -- she has establishments in New Delhi, Mumbai and Milan, Italy -- also runs a thriving catering service for destination and lavish weddings.

Milan, Dalmia’s place of work for several years, recognises civil unions which provides similar set of rights to same-sex couples available to heterosexual couples. However, joint adoption rights are off the table for same-sex couples -- a move instituted by the government under Giorgia Meloni only last year.

Dalmia said that she and her partner wanted to be married properly. “All or nothing,” the restaurateur said.