Mr and Mr Right is not wrong

A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is currently hearing pleas seeking legal recognition of samesex marriages in India The petitions say that the right to marry a person of onersquos choice should be extended to lesbian gay bisexual transgender intersex queer LGBTIQ people as well The Centre has opposed the petitionPerhaps one of the most significant developments came on Wednesday when the Centre told the Supreme Court that it will set up a committee to explore administrative solutions to daily problems faced by samesex couples The petitioners though have pressed on for marriage rights for samesex couples as it should beWe say India is the mother of democracies but today in the global context that is a huge farce looking at the fight for samesex marriage rights The LGBTIQ community is a significant percentage of the populationhellip we are not as miniscule as made out to beI am certain that most people who are opposing samesex marriage rights really do not know the issue in its entirety what it entails what the community is asking for and how it affects lives holistically What equal rights means is not threatening the social order as opponents like to say painting a picture of anarchy but threatening an entrenched unequal system That is where the real fear stems fromWhen people ask why marriage I have to stress that a lot of samesex couples have got lsquomarriedrsquo in this country They have had ceremonies with pandits etc Yet we have much more when samesex marriage has legal recognition We have the right to build a house own property together We can have a joint bank account Today if my partner is injured and admitted to a hospital I do not have the right to sign certain forms to greenlight a medical procedure or treatmentThere are some who say samesex couples even if they are married should not be allowed to adopt children This is homophobic and extremely hateful based on assumptions like a twoyearold child to be adopted does not have a lsquochoicersquo or a lsquovoicersquo that he or she would prefer to be brought up by a heterosexual coupleI say that an adopted child may want to be in a samesex family but a twoyearold does not have a lsquovoicersquo or lsquochoicersquo to decline a heterosexual couple as parents and opt for a samesex couple We need to normalise samesex couples as parents that is one way to put the brakes on bullying in schools We have gay children who have died by suicide because of the shaming and bullying With these barriers we are supporting an unkind world We need to recognise and celebrate love and relationshipsThat the lsquocentrersquo is against samesex marriage and taking a populist stance for votes There is also a small percentage of people who will always be unhappy seeing somebody else happy periodSo much has been made about how our system will collapse if samesex marriages are allowed If this socalled system is so fragile it is not worth preserving I think we will have a better society when individuals are allowed to live with dignity and most importantly integrity Today because of the pressure some lsquoheterosexualrsquo marriages are built on an edifice of lies A gay person in the closet has to get lsquomarriedrsquo and live a lie If samesex marriages are allowed you will have many coming out and claiming their equal space in the world you have the happiness index of a country improving too Whatever the outcome there is a sense of pride and anticipation in the community As for me personally haha maybe it is time to start looking for Mr RightAs told to Hemal AsharOnir is a filmmaker and writer