On 17 October 2023, the Supreme Court rejected the plea for queer persons’ right to marry in India. The five-judge Bench unanimously agreed that there is no fundamental right to marry, and marriages between queer persons cannot be read into the Special Marriage Act, 1954. All five judges agreed that transgender persons in heterosexual relationships have the right to marry under the existing legal framework.
In a 3:2 majority, the bench held that same-sex couples did not have the right to form civil unions, and that they could not adopt.
