India: A prominent gay couple expressed their disappointment over the Supreme Court setback in the same-sex marriage matter, but vowed to “fight another day”.
Writer Ananya Kotia and lawyer Utkarsh Saxena exchanged rings in front of the Supreme Court today and announced their engagement.
The Supreme Court yesterday stopped short of legalising marriage equality, but stressed that an individual’s right to enter into a union cannot be restricted on the basis of sexual orientation. The five-judge bench came up with four judgments, differing primarily on the question of adoption rights for queer couples.
The judges asked the centre to proceed with the formation of a committee to address practical concerns of same-sex couples, such as getting ration cards, pension, gratuity and succession issues.
In a post on X today, Ananya Kotia said the “legal loss” they have suffered is in the past tense, and indicated they will not give up.
“Yesterday hurt. Today, Utkarsh Saxena and I went back to the court that denied our rights, and exchanged rings. So this week wasn’t about a legal loss, but our engagement. We’ll return to fight another day,” Ananya Kotia said in the post.
The post has a photo showing the gay couple exchanging rings in a garden, with the dome of the Supreme Court building in the background.
