Take the case of Aditi Anand and Susan Dias, among the petitioners for marriage equality, who wrote in these pages about the hope embodied by their son and his friends, who are growing up without homophobia, and the participation of the school management and other parents in effecting this change (‘We will get there’, IE, October 18).
Far from the halls where justice is pronounced and forums where laws are made, a momentous change has been quietly underway. On September 18, 21-year-old Manisha married her 27-year-old partner, Dimple, at a ceremony where she came dressed as the groom and the bride wore red. Their families and friends were there to celebrate the wedding, which was officiated by the priests at Gurdwara Kalgidhar Sahib in Bathinda. “I am content with how society has responded to our daughter’s marriage. People shouldn’t interfere in others’ choices,” Manisha’s mother said, according to a report in this paper (‘If two people are happy, why should anyone object?’, IE, October 18). It is a sentiment that is increasingly echoed in towns and villages, galis and qasbas throughout the country — sometimes loud and assertive, often quiet yet insistent. Even as the Supreme Court passed the marriage equality ball back into Parliament’s court in its October 17 verdict, the growing evidence for Indian society’s slow but sure progress down the road to acceptance of queer relationships is hard to ignore.
Take the case of Aditi Anand and Susan Dias, among the petitioners for marriage equality, who wrote in these pages about the hope embodied by their son and his friends, who are growing up without homophobia, and the participation of the school management and other parents in effecting this change (‘We will get there’, IE, October 18). Others among the petitioners who went to the Supreme Court, seeking the right to marry, have similar stories of love finding a wider social acceptance – after all, 53 per cent of Indians, according to the results of a survey by the Pew Research Centre, released earlier this year, favour marriage equality. It is a change that is reflected in — and arguably, enabled by — films and shows, such as Made in Heaven, Badhaai Do, Majaa Ma, and Khufiya, which centre, with compassion and care, the stories of LGBTQI+ characters, giving expression to hopes and dreams not so different from those of other Indians.
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History shows that whether it’s temple entry, abolition of untouchability or even the decriminalisation of non-heterosexual relationships, vast social changes can flow in two directions — from institutions to society, via laws and judicial interventions, and from society to institutions, when customs change and traditions are expanded to accommodate differences and institutions must then take note. Many of these stories and examples signify an irreversible cultural shift, of the kind that is also seen in the growing affirmation of queer rights and freedoms. It is now up to the legislature and judiciary to catch up.
