The long-march to same-sex marriage equality continues
"The Times They Are a-Changin." For the LGBTQ community in India, Bob Dylan's song holds little hope following the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday (October 17, 2023) refusing to give legal sanctity to the concept of same-sex marriage.
The LGBTQ community's fight for equal rights is an ongoing process. The road ahead looks bumpy and hard in India following the jolt received in the form of the apex court verdict.
But author and "constitutional law scholar" Gautam Bhatia had this to say in a message he posted on platform X: "Solidarity to everyone on a very difficult day. No legal setback is forever. We'll all need to study the judgment(s) very carefully, and find spaces in the interstices to rebuild, going forward."
Or "And you better start swimmin'/Or you'll sink like a stone/For the times they are a-changin" as Dylan sang.
Even as the LGBTQ community has received a setback in India, a look at the progress that has been made and the global scenario of marriage equality is indeed encouraging.
Early Days
In the 1970s, LGBTQ activists began staging protests and raising awareness about the need for equal rights and marriage equality.
The 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights marked a key moment, bringing national attention to these issues. Activists demanded an end to discrimination against LGBTQ individuals, including in areas like employment, housing and healthcare.
Many early activists saw marriage equality as an important part of securing full civil rights protections for lesbian and gay couples. Partners faced difficulties around hospital visitation rights, inheritance, child adoption, and a lack of spousal benefits. Without marriage rights, same-sex couples face significant legal and financial obstacles.
Progress emerged slowly at first. In the 1990s, several countries including Norway, Sweden and Iceland passed registered partnership laws to provide some spousal rights to same-sex couples. But most denied full marriage equality.
Court Battles
A major breakthrough came in 2001 in the Netherlands, which became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. Over the next two years, Belgium, Ontario and British Columbia followed.
In the landmark 2003 Goodridge v. Department of Public Health ruling, Massachusetts became the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage after their highest court ruled that barring same-sex couples from marriage violated the state constitution.
This ignited a wave of court battles across the US as other states' bans were challenged. The California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban in 2008, representing a huge victory for same-sex marriage activists.
But opposition also mounted. In the 2008 election cycle, California, Arizona and Florida all passed ballot measures to ban same-sex marriage in their state constitutions. This revealed the persisting deep social divides around the issue.
The Tide Turns
Despite the state-level bans, momentum was shifting. Younger generations overwhelmingly supported marriage equality and acceptance of LGBTQ rights was growing.
Several other nations including Portugal, Argentina and Denmark legalized same-sex marriage between 2008-2010. Political leaders such as Barack Obama began voicing support.
In 2011 New York passed legislation making it the largest U.S. state at the time to allow same-sex marriage. In 2012 Washington, Maine and Maryland all passed ballot initiatives in favor of legalization.
US Supreme Court
On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court issued their historic ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide in a 5-4 decision. The Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment required states to license marriages between same-sex partners and recognize such marriages performed out-of-state.
Justice Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion: "The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights...Without the recognition, stability and predictability marriage offers children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser."
With this landmark decision, same-sex marriage was legalized across all 50 states. The ruling cemented marriage equality as a fundamental civil right in the U.S. The White House showed its support by illuminating the building in rainbow colors.
In the years since, same-sex marriage rights have continued expanding to more regions globally:
- Australia legalized it after a postal vote in 2017
- Taiwan's legislature passed Asia's first same-sex marriage law in 2019
- Ecuador legalized it in 2019 after a ruling by their Constitutional Court
- Northern Ireland legalized it in 2020
- Costa Rica legalized it in 2020 after a Supreme Court ruling
- Chile passed a law allowing it in 2021 after years of activism
Meanwhile, same-sex marriage remains banned in most of Africa, parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But public opinion in many countries remains divided, signalling that the legal battles around same-sex marriage are likely to persist.