53% of Indians Support Same-Sex Marriages: Study

While the central government in India has been outrightly opposed to petitions filed in the Supreme Court seeking the legalisation of same-sex marriages, the results of a Washington-based think tank, the Pew Research Centre, suggest that a significant proportion of the Indian population is not averse to the concept of same-sex marriages.

The centre has opposed the petitions, stating that same-same marriage is against the "Indian notion of marriage," which is the "union between a biological man and a biological woman only." Further, the centre also noted that it was an "urban elitist concept," a claim that was rejected by the Supreme Court due to a lack of substantial data to back it up.

Pew Study On Same-Sex Marriage

Now, this survey by the Pew Research Centre, which released its results on Tuesday, has revealed that 53% of Indians surveyed were accepting of the legalisation of same-sex marriages. While 28 percent strongly supported same-sex marriages, another 25 percent said that they were "somewhat supportive" of same-sex marriages. On the whole more than half of the population surveyed were open to the legalisation of same-sex marriages.

The survey also noted that, despite being in the most religious countries category, India was among the top three countries where more than half of the population surveyed supported legalisation of same-sex marriages.

According to the report, Sweden topped the list of countries that was supportive towards the legalisation of same-sex marriages with 92 percent in support and Nigeria was the least-supportive country with only 2 percent of it's surveyed population showing support.

The Spring 2023 Global Attitudes Survey was conducted in March among 3,500 Americans and more than 27,000 non-US residents. A majority of the respondents in 15 countries—at least 51 percent—supported the legalisation of same-sex marriages out of the 24 surveyed countries.

In a petition submitted to the Supreme Court in March 2023, the centre stated that the institution of marriage has sanctity attached to it and that major parts of India regard marriage as a "sacrament, a holy union, and a Sanskar," and that this relationship is essentially needed to be between a biological man and a biological woman and is "socially culturally and legally ingrained."

The centre also argued that it was especially due to this reason that the court shouldn’t disturb or dilute the concept of marriage by judicious interpretation as it would affect "deeply embedded religious and social norms." Further, the centre argues that since this was a very complex issue that would have a profound impact on society, the court should leave the decision to the parliament.

The findings of this study would definitely have a positive impact on the Supreme Court verdict on the legalisation of same-sex marriages in India, which was reserved by the top court last month. We are said to be a democratic country, meaning the constitution is for the people, of the people, and by the people. Keeping that in mind, when more than half of the country is supportive of the legalisation of same-sex marriages, on what grounds would it still not be recognised?

Suggested Reading: Looking At Petitions For Same-Sex Marriage That Have Been Filed At Supreme Court

Views expressed by the author are their own