Lawyers, activists discuss LGBTQ+ rights, dignity, marriage equality at screening of Amma’s Pride

Lawyers and LGBTQ+ activists recently gathered in New Delhi to discuss the future of marriage equality and the rights of the transgender community at a screening of the documentary film, Amma's Pride.

‘Amma’s Pride’ documents the poignant story of a transwoman named Srija, her legal struggles to get married to a cis-man, and the unwavering, staunch support of her mother against perpetual societal stigma.

Srija’s fight to get her marriage registered culminated in a landmark 2019  judgment passed by the Madras High Court in Arunkumar vs Inspector General of Registration, which allowed Srija to be recognised as a “bride."

“The expression ‘bride’ occurring in Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 will have to include within its meaning not only a woman but also a trans-woman. It would also include an intersex person/transgender person who identifies herself as a woman,” the Madras High Court had observed.  

The film's screening was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Law, Representation and the Future of Marriage Equality and Trans Rights in India’, held at PVR Inox, New Delhi.

The panelists included advocates Raghavi Shukla and Mihir Samson, activist Rituparna Borah and choreographer Navtej Singh Johar, the lead petitioner in the pivotal 2018 Supreme Court judgment that decriminalised homosexuality in India.

Advocate Mihir Samson gave a brief legal history and current state of the LGBTQ+ community’s rights. He said that it is a travesty of justice that the rights of the community are in the hands of the government and tied to popular morality. 

“One very major concerning issue is that there is no fundamental right to get married in this country under the Constitution. So the rights come from the Parliament or the State legislature. This means that the institution is subject to the popular morality, and the elected government can decide who can enter into marriage and who cannot. That is a big travesty of justice,” he stated. 

He added that there are related petitions pending before the Bombay and Delhi High Courts. The case before the Delhi High Court concerns the question of who will be the next of kin in the case of medical emergencies. The plea before it seeks directions to hospitals and doctors to recognise same-sex partners as each other’s medical representatives, allowing them to give consent in medical situations.

Touching upon this issue, Samson said,

“If you have an emergency, why should they (people other than your partner) have any decision-making? And the person you're living with, have an intimate relationship with, has no role. These are important questions now being brought to court and being agitated in that context,” he said. 

He noted that the experience of all members in the LGBTQ+ community is not the same. Some have the support of their family, but others face attacks from their families.

“Both realities have to come before the court and have to be addressed by the law, which is not being addressed at the moment,” he said.

He remarked that he was “perhaps optimistic” that the Supreme Court would eventually recognise the right to marry.

Advocate Raghavi Shukla moderated the discussion. She said that there is a need for accountability and keeping channels for dialogue open. 

Johar was touched by the tenderness of the movie and lauded Srija’s mother for her grit and resilience. 

He also touched upon how he has embraced not fitting into conventional standards.

“My creativity lies in the fact that I'm somewhere in between. I don't want to belong truly, because my strength, my power, is in my not belonging. My beauty is in my not belonging. Equal and normative are different,” he stated about marrying for greater acceptance in society. 

Rituparna Borah said that apart from the lack of recognition of marriage, there is also the issue of violence against the community and the lack of laws for allowing LGBTQ+ partners to adopt children.