Barack Obama is the first US President in office who has lent his support to same-sex marriage. It may be that he was forced to do so by his Vice-President, Joe Biden. Alternatively he may have himself decided to emerge from his vacillation and to take a ‘principled’ and yet risky stand. Same-sex marriage is a highly controversial issue and to come out on it in election year certainly took great guts. Obama has however indicated that it is a state’s right issue. Nevertheless, his stand has caused advocates of gay rights to rejoice not only in the US but in different parts of the world.
Same-sex marriage is of course a faraway reality in India . So is civil rights union. Gay citizens of India do not yet enjoy minimum guarantees and the legality of their deviation is not yet established. In 2009, the Delhi High Court struck down Section 377, decriminalising homosexuality. But the Supreme Court judgement is yet to be delivered. The Indian government has been a prisoner of contradictions. The Union Health Ministry favours decriminalisation of homosexuality. But it has put forward the issue as a public health challenge. Apart from moral scruples, same-sex marriage is considered unreal in India . As against the principle of inclusion and equality, there are some old concepts. Indian society believes that marriages are mainly for procreation. Same-sex marriage cannot lead to that. Besides, promiscuous homosexual relations can lead to catastrophic results, especially AIDS. A Hollywood film infused with modern ideas— Philadelphia —treats the subject with grave intensity.
