Indian gay ‘marriage’ follows legal ruling

08/07/2009 - 16:35:12
SOURCE:  Ireland On-Line

Just a week after a New Delhi court decriminalised homosexuality, the first gay “marriage” has taken place in India.

Amrit and Jeeta, both 18, decided to get married following the landmark judgment which changed a 148-year-old British colonial-era ruling that made homosexual sex a punishable offence.

However, the verdict can still be challenged in India’s Supreme Court.

“I was so delighted after the court’s verdict that we both decided to get married,” Jeeta said after the ceremony at the Shiridi temple in the north Indian city of Chandigarh.

“We had been facing discrimination in public, at the work place and at home. But things may look up for people like us now.” The couple fell in love about three months ago, but have been facing opposition from a traditionally conservative society.

Muslim and Hindu groups have united in opposing the court ruling and are now trying to convince other religious associations to join in their resistance.

A Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist today told the Press Association: “This is not our culture and I don’t know why people allowed this to happen.

“After the Delhi High Court verdict, it seems that it has become a fashion to champion gay rights.There should be strong resistance and we will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court” Jeeta’s mother reportedly refuses to accept her son’s sexual orientation. “He is not a homosexual and is employed with a pharmaceutical factory,” she said.

His partner Amrit, however, said he felt “alive” after his decision to get married. “I will be calling a few selected friends [for the reception] who encouraged us in this bold step.

“But it will be open, with no fear of anyone. There are so many like us who secretly love each other,” he told Indian newspaper the Times of India.

“Few have the courage to get married. Maybe this step of ours can motivate the rest of the community to break the fetters of society,” he added.