'Feels Like Betrayal': SC's Marriage Equality Verdict Disappoints Netizens

They say the verdict against same-sex marriages is a setback to the LGBTQIA+ community's progress.

The decision of the five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court not to legalise same-sex marriages in India on Tuesday, 17 October, has sent waves of disappointment across social media.

(Photo: The Quint)

The decision of the five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court not to legalise same-sex marriages in India on Tuesday, 17 October, has sent waves of disappointment across social media.

While many acknowledged the Supreme Court's recognition of queer rights in the judgment, they say the verdict against same-sex marriages is a setback to the LGBTQIA+ community that has been fighting for the right to marry for years.

AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh took to X (formerly Twitter) to say: "Indian National Congress has always stood with all our citizens to protect their freedoms, choices, liberties and rights. We, as a party of inclusion, firmly believe in non-discriminatory processes – judicial, social, and political."

He, however, added that the party is studying the judgment and would have a detailed response shortly.

'Abdication of Responsibility': Queer Community Reacts

Scholar Anish Gawande wrote on X that the "Supreme Court's verdict on marriage equality is an abdication of responsibility by the highest court in the land."

Rohin Bhatt, who is part of the team representing one of the petitioners in the case, wrote on X: "Today the court has reaffirmed that queer citizens will be relegated to an unsympathetic legislature and an apathetic executive. We are second class citizens, no matter how many judicial platitudes say otherwise. We will rise in rage and protest."

Muskan T, another lawyer who advocates for queer rights, said: "Marriage IS a socio-legal institution and that's why non-discrimination directions or saying that you can still 'celebrate' your love is USELESS."

Another X user said he was "depressed just watching the judgment."

"This betrayal by Supreme Court will be remembered in the context of their previous judgment of Navtej Johar where they advocated an apology to the Queer community. Now, they left the whole community at the mercy of the legislature without setting up any boundaries," another X user wrote.

Gautam Bhatia, a lawyer who specialises in constitutional law, meanwhile, said that "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," he added.

Here are some other reactions: