Need for pragmatism

Govt must create enabling legal framework for LGBTQIA+ rights

The unanimous rejection by the Supreme Court of the right for same-sex couples to marry has squarely pushed the ball into Parliament’s court. Two observations of the five-judge Constitution Bench are relevant and challenging at the same time. First, and importantly, it has recognised the right of gay couples, meaning same-sex couples are entitled to the same legal protections as heterosexual couples. This right, according to the apex court, is posited on the right or freedom to enter into a union. But its observation that the right to marry does not qualify as a fundamental right under Article 21(2), which