India to Legalize Gay ‘Marriage’?

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NEW DELHI (Churchmilitant.com) - India is on the verge of becoming the 35th country to legalize same-sex "marriage." 

Today, the Indian Supreme Court began hearing arguments for legal recognition of gay "marriage," a status that would grant homosexuals the ability to share, for example, a bank account, a health insurance policy or ownership of a house. 

India's Hindu-nationalist government is opposed to the further normalization of sodomy and recently told the Supreme Court that the attempt to legalize gay unions is an "urban elitist concept" that is "not comparable with the Indian family-unit concept of a husband, a wife and children." 

Although India's government strongly disagrees with the LGBT ideology, national acceptance of the gay lifestyle has grown over the years. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of people in India in favor of homosexuality went from just 15% in 2014 to 37% in 2019.

A Brief History

Dating back to 1861, the Indian Penal Code has declared homosexual acts illegal. Section 377 reads, "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine."

However, in 2009, the Delhi High Court ruled the IPC's ban on consensual gay sex was a violation of fundamental rights. The ruling only applied to the Delhi region, but India's Ministry of Home Affairs foreshadowed that it would "open the floodgates of delinquent behavior." In 2013, though, the Supreme Court overruled the Delhi High Court's decision. Nevertheless, the initial decision would serve as the groundwork for the entire country's acceptance of homosexuality about a decade later. 

In 2018, India's Supreme Court overruled its 2013 judgment and decriminalized gay sex. Notably, the 2018 ruling used the same language as the Delhi High Court, stating that bans on consensual gay sex are a fundamental violation of rights and, as such, are "manifestly unconstitutional." 

Following Taiwan 

There are an estimated 28 different petitions being brought to the Supreme Court asking for legal recognition of same-sex "marriage," and if the Supreme Court folds, India will become the second Asian jurisdiction, after Taiwan, to recognize same-sex "marriages."

When Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, became the first Asian jurisdiction to legalize gay "marriage," the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, stated, "We took a big step towards true equality, and made Taiwan a better country."

Taiwan is an ally of the United States, "shar[ing] similar values," according to the U.S. Department of State. And just two weeks ago, Ing-wen met with Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

After gay marriage was legalized stateside in 2015, Taiwan followed suit and, in 2019, legalized gay marriage. Taiwan spearheaded the homosexualist effort in Asia and, now, India is on the verge of treading its path.

The most effective organization pushing the homosexualist agenda, and there are many, is George Soros' Open Society Foundations, which "support[s] local efforts to decriminalize homosexual conduct around the world."

In fact, the Open Society Foundations expressly lauded India's 2018 ruling to decriminalize gay sex, stating, "After the Indian decision was announced, celebrations erupted not only across India but also in many of the other 70-plus countries that still criminalize same-sex attraction. It gave hope that, one day, homosexual conduct will be decriminalized in these countries too."

Today's Hearing 

India's Supreme Court held its first hearing earlier today, and, by all accounts, things did not go well for those in favor of traditional marriage, i.e., the majority of people in India. 

But majority opinion doesn't matter, according to Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who argued during the hearing that "discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of an individual."

Another striking remark during today's hearing came from Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, who noted that a biological man or woman is not something that is "absolute" and "not just a question of what your genitals are." 

Hearings resume tomorrow. 

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