Kerala: Trans couple approach High Court to register marriage under transgender identity

Adding an extra dose of love this valentine's day, a trans couple Syama S. Prabha and Manu Karthika tied the knot in a traditional Hindu ceremony with the blessings of their family in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram. 

"We're happy to get married on Valentine's Day. We're completing the paperwork to approach Kerala HC to register our marriage under transgender identity," Manu Karthika told ANI

By occupation, the groom Manu who is a native of Thrissur works at an IT firm in Techno park while Thiruvanathapurm Syama works at the transgender cell under the Kerala Social Justice Department. 

Earlier the couple had told ANI, "We're planning to approach Kerala HC to register our marriage under transgender identity, instead of the gender binary (male-female) under Special Marriage Act". 

Manu had informed that transgender couples get their marriages registered under the Special Marriage Act who obtain their id cards as male and female. But they were not able to register their marriage under the Act as they got themselves identified as transgender in their IDs and so they had to approach Court.

Plea in Delhi HC seeks same-sex marriage registration under religion-neutral, secular law

A plea opposing the registration of same-sex marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act was filed at the Delhi High Court on December 3, 2021, and sought its registration either religion-neutral or under secular law. An NGO namely Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation in its plea stated that if same-sex marriage is approved under Hindu Marriage Act and not in other Personal Laws existing in India, it will discriminate against people from the LGBT community on the basis of religion. 

The plea argued that inclusion of same-sex marriage in the Customary Law will be easy, convenient, and practical for marriage that is a type of contract, more generic in nature but is remotely based on religion. 

According to the plea, "Marriages in societies like Hindu are very much part of their religion and derived and associated with their divine entities as well as religious texts and thereby hold significant sentimental values".

According to the application, the petition has opposed same-sex marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act as it is not just against the Hindu marriage system but as an act to bring changes abruptly without any reason. It is assumed that these changes might bring in an impact on other aspects including inheritance, adopting, and religious ecosystem of the Hindu society that are critically tagged on the religious 'Sanskar of Vivah'.

(Image: ANI)