HYDERABAD: Expressing happiness over the Supreme Court seeking the Centre’s response in a plea seeking recognition of same-sex marriage, the community members hoped such marriages would be legally recognised soon.
The couple who filed the petition in the SC — Supriyo Chakraborty, 32, a hospitality sector professional, and Abhay Dang, 35, a software engineer — met on the gay dating platform PlanetRomeo nine years ago. They got married in December 2021 with a grand wedding function.
Supriyo and Abhay argued that non-recognition of same-sex marriage violates their right to equality. They said it has implications for personal liberty, adoption, and financial matters. They demand the solemnisation of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act.
“For some time now, gay couples have been filing petitions in courts to have their marriage recognised. The courts, however, keep postponing the hearing of the petitions,” said J Jayant, founder of LGBTQ+ rights group Queer Nilayam.
He added, “Supriyo and Abhay had no problem living together. Their family and friends had accepted their relationship. But they started facing problems when banks refused to open their joint account. If they want to adopt children, they can’t because they are not legally married.”