THE GAY QUESTION

NCP leader Supriya Sule recently introduced a private member's Bill that seeks to give equal rights of marriage to the LGBTQIA+ community. The Bill also seeks to replace all references in the Special Marriage Act to “husband and wife” with the word "spouse”. What are the chances of it becoming a law?

THE leader of the National Congress Party (NCP) and member of Parliament, Supriya Sule, recently ber's Bill in the Lok Sabha which states that same-sex marriage should be legalised. The Bill proposes that after Section 4 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, an insertion be made that "notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, a marriage between any two persons of same sex may be solemnized under this Act” The Bill proposes to fix the age of marriage at 21 years in case both the parties are males and 18 years in case both are females. It also proposes to replace the words "husband" and "wife" with "spouse” by amending the various sections of the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

While introducing Bill under the Statement of Objects and V V Reasons, Sule said that in 2018, the Supreme Court had struck down an archaic, draconian legislation of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, namely Section 377. Through this landmark judg ment (Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India), homosexuality was effectively decriminalised. While this was a muchneeded, progressive leap forward, LGBTQIA+ individuals still face persecution, discrimination and social stigma within society.