‘Disheartened, expected more from judiciary’: Queer folks look to fight another day

While many believe that the verdict served little purpose in moving the needle, others say a discussion on the issue in the Supreme Court means progress.

The response to the Supreme Court’s 3:2 verdict against the rights to marry, civil union and adoption for same-sex couples brought with it more heartbreaks than happiness.

Members of the collective and people from the LGBTQ+ community in Lucknow had gathered at Hazratganj to provide each other company and comfort “no matter which way the verdict goes”. (Deepak Gupta)

While many believed that the verdict served little purpose in moving the needle, others held the opinion that simply having the conversation in the Supreme Court meant progress, and that justice was on its way.

Founder of Awadh Queer Pride, a Lucknow-based prominent queer collective in India, Darvesh Singh Yadavendra expressed his displeasure with Tuesday’s verdict. “We had high expectations from the judgement—at the very least a system or framework for how the Centre-appointed committee will examine the questions raised on the rights of the queer community. Just saying that a committee will be constituted is extremely vague and leaves us with many questions,” he remarked.

The court “has not specified the strength of the committee and the deadline for its [the committee’s] formation, or even gave clarity on its objective... We were expecting a lot more from the judiciary and are very disheartened.”

Members of the collective and people from the LGBTQ+ community in the city had gathered at Hazratganj to provide each other company and comfort “no matter which way the verdict goes”.

Priyanka Raghuvanshi, president of Akhil Bharatiya Kinnar Sangh, is a trans woman. She was thrilled with the verdict supporting marriage and adoption rights for trans people in heterosexual relationships. “We are so happy and proud to finally have the Supreme Court grant members of our community certain basic rights that we had been struggling for our whole lives,” she said.

Raghuvanshi added the last two wins the community has had with the judiciary were five years apart. “Change takes time,” she said. “For all my queer friends who got left behind with this verdict, I want them to keep their faith and have patience. This is going to be a long struggle. So, one must celebrate the wins and fight on.”

Ritu Das, who identifies as non-binary and transfeminine, however, said granting transgender persons in heterosexual relationships the right to legally marry while denying other members of the community permission to even form a civil union proved a moot point. “The verdict holds nothing positive for the homosexual community struggling for marriage rights,” she observed.

“The proceedings began on such a positive note. The language and rhetoric being used by CJI D.Y Chandrachud all sounded so progressive. We did not expect that the final verdict would be so much to the contrary. Nothing new has come out of this long wait, and it feels as though despite our high hopes, we have regressed back to a place where laws do not exist to enforce our democracy.”

Picture 1: Darvesh Singh Yadavendra

Picture 2: Priyanka Raghuvanshi

Picture 3: Ritu Das