Homosexuality and Right to Marry: A Historical and Constitutional Analysis
By Riya Sharma, Vivekananda Institute Of Professional Studies, GGSIPU.*
Abstract
The class of LGBTQ people has always been a target of societal hatred and marginalization from the mainstream, the reason being their different and hence unacceptable sexual orientation. Completely ostracized and denied rights by the social fabric of the nation, the dejected group has time and again approached the legal arena for the approval and grant of rights which were refused to them on the basis of being against traditional and cultural morality. A similar battle for equal rights in terms of right to marry for this class has reached the apex court of the country. Though support has poured in from various sections of the society but a mass resistance has erupted by majority of the population including parts of elite educated classes also. In the backdrop of these circumstances, this article aims to provide an analysis of whether the right to marry should be extended to LGBTQ and homosexuals based on the historical perspectives regarding the same and the present-day constitutional provisions supporting it. It also aims to analyse whether the judiciary is well equipped with the power to grant the same to these people or the matter falls within the legislative domain.
Keywords: LGBTQ, Homosexuality, Right to marry, History, Societal norms, Morality, Constitution of India, Fundamental rights.
* The author is a second-year student pursuing B.A. LL.B. from Vivekananda Institute Of Professional Studies, GGSIPU, New Delhi.
