Homosexuality was decriminalised in 2018 but the supreme court has declined to change marriage laws

Utkarsh Saxena had been secretly planning the proposal for weeks. He had secretly measured his boyfriend’s finger while he was sleeping and bought a pair of matching steel rings from a Delhi market. They had been together for 15 years, having fallen in love on the university debating team, and Saxena felt optimistic that this would be an auspicious moment to ask the love of his life to marry him – the same day that India’s supreme court ruled on whether same-sex couples would be allowed to get married.

Yet when the verdict came out on Tuesday, Saxena’s heart broke. Even as India’s chief justice, DY Chandrachud, spoke of India’s long history of LGBTQ+ people and their right to equality, he ruled that changing marriage laws was beyond the scope of the court and that marriage was not a fundamental right. It was the job of parliament, not judges, to make such decisions, Chandrachud said.

Judges say decision should be made by parliament but stress that such unions should not face discrimination

India’s top court has declined to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages, saying it is beyond its scope and should be decided by parliament, but emphasising that queer relationships should not face discrimination by the state.

The marriage ruling will be a disappointment for LGBTQ+ people in India, who had hoped the supreme court judges would recognise their constitutional right to marriage equality.