The Indian Supreme Court on Jan. 9 rejected a series of petitions that challenged its 2023 ruling against marriage equality

A 5-judge bench — Justices Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Surya Kant, Bengaluru Venkataramiah Nagarathna, Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, and Dipankar Datta — said there were no errors in the ruling that justified a review.

A five-judge Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, on Oct. 17, 2023, in a 3-2 decision ruled against recognizing the constitutional validity of same-sex marriages in India.

The court emphasized it is parliament’s rule to decide whether to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. It also acknowledged its function is limited to interpreting laws, not creating them.

The judges on Jan. 9 stated they had reviewed the original rulings.

“We do not find any error apparent on the face of the record,” they said. “We further find that the view expressed in both the judgments is in accordance with law and as such, no interference is warranted. Accordingly, the review petitions are dismissed.”

A new bench of judges formed on July 10, 2024, after Justice Sanjiv Khanna unexpectedly recused himself from hearing the appeals, citing personal reasons. The reconstituted bench included Narasimha, who was part of the original group of judges who delivered the ruling.

“The fact that we have lost is a comma and not a full stop for equality,” said Harish Iyer, a prominent LGBTQ rights activist in India and one of the plaintiffs of marriage equality case. “The admission of review petitions is a rarity, and while we will proceed with all legal recourses available this is not the only fight.”

Some of the plaintiffs in November 2023 appealed the Supreme Court’s original decision. Udit Sood and other lawyers who had represented them in the original marriage equality case filed the appeal.

The appeal argued the ruling contained “errors apparent on the face of the record,” and described the earlier ruling as “self-contradictory and manifestly unjust.” It criticized the court for acknowledging the plaintiffs face discrimination, but then dismissing their claims with “best wishes for the future,” contending this approach fails to fulfill the court’s constitutional obligations toward queer Indians and undermines the separation of powers envisioned in the constitution. The appeal also asserted the majority ruling warrants review because it summarily dismissed established legal precedents and made the “chilling declaration” that the constitution does not guarantee a fundamental right to marry, create a family, or form a civil union.

While speaking to the Washington Blade, Iyer said this setback is a reminder that our futures can be shaped by collaboration and numerous small victories along the way.

“We will have a multi-pronged approach,” he said. “We need to speak to parents groups, teachers, police personnel, doctors, and medical staff, news reporters, podcasters, grassroots activists, activists from allied movements, our local/state and national level elected representatives. We all need to do our bit in our circle of influence. These small waves will create a force that will help us propel toward marriage equality.”

Iyer told the Blade he is confident the community will achieve marriage equality within his lifetime, offering assurance to every queer individual.

“I just hope that I am not too old to find someone to marry with by then.”

As per the Supreme Court’s rules, a ruling is reviewed only if there is a mistake or error apparent on the face of the record, the discovery of new evidence, or any reason equivalent to these two. Justices typically consider appeals without oral arguments, circulating them among themselves in chambers. The same set of justices who issued the original ruling typically rules on the appeal. In this case, however, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S. Ravindra Bhat, and Chandrachud, who were part of the original bench, had retired.

Souvik Saha, founder of Jamshedpur Queer Circle, an LGBTQ organization that conducts sensitization workshops with law enforcement and local communities, described the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the appeal as not just a legal setback, but a significant blow to the hopes of millions of LGBTQ people across India. He said the decision perpetuates a sense of exclusion, denying the community the constitutional promise of equality under Article 14 and the right to live with dignity under Article 21.

“This decision comes at a time when global momentum on marriage equality is growing,” said Saha, noting Taiwan and more than 30 other countries around the world have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples. “The lack of recognition in India, despite the 2018 Navtej Johar judgement — decriminalizing homosexuality, leaves the LGBTQ community in a vulnerable position.”

Saha further noted in Jharkhand, a state in eastern India where socio-cultural stigmas run deep, the Supreme Court’s refusal highlights the fight for equality is far from over.

He shared the Jamshedpur Queer Circle recently supported a young lesbian couple who were disowned by their families and faced threats when attempting to formalize their relationship. Saha stressed that without legal safeguards, such couples are left without recourse, underscoring the urgent need for marriage equality to ensure protection and recognition for LGBTQ people.

“While the decision delays progress, it cannot halt the movement for equality,” said Saha. “Marriage equality is inevitable in a country where nearly 60 percent of Indians aged 18-34 believe that same-sex couples should have the right to marry (Ipsos LGBT+ Pride Survey, 2021.) This ruling highlights the need to shift our advocacy strategy towards building a stronger case for social and political change.”

Saha proposed several calls to action and strategies for moving forward.

He emphasized to the Blade the need for mobilizing the community through state-level consultations and storytelling campaigns to humanize the issue of marriage equality. Saha also highlighted the importance of developing stronger petitions, supported by case studies, international precedents, and data to effectively address judicial concerns.

Saha suggested working with allies in civil society and corporate India to push for incremental changes. He advocated for engaging policymakers in dialogue to promote legislative reforms, emphasizing the economic benefits of inclusion. Saha also called for campaigns to counter misinformation and prejudice, while establishing counseling and support groups for LGBTQ people and their families that provide guidance and support.

“Legal recognition of marriage is not just about ceremony; it is about the basic rights, dignity, and respect that every individual deserves,” said Saha. “Together, through collective action, we will ensure that the arc of justice bends in our favor.”

Indrani Chakraborty, an LGBTQ activist and mother of Amulya Gautam, a transgender student from Guwahati in Assam state, described the Supreme Court’s appeal denial as an “insensitive approach.”

“Love and commitment are emotions that can never be under boundaries. Rejection of same-sex marriage is an oppressive approach towards the LGBTQI+ community,” said Chakraborty. “This is discrimination. Marriage provides social and legal security to the couple and that should be irrespective of gender. Same-sex relationships will be there as always even with or without any constitutional recognition. The fight should go on, as I believe, this validates the intention. The community needs to stand bold, and equality be achieved.”

The Vatican has approved new guidelines that opens the door for gay men in Italy to become priests.

The New York Times on Jan. 10 reported the Vatican approved the guidelines the Italian Bishop’s Conference adopted last November.

The guidelines specifically stipulate seminaries cannot reject applicants simply because of their sexual orientation, as long as they remain celibate. They will remain in place for what the Times described as a “3-year trial period.”

“This development is a big step forward,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization, in a press release. “It clarifies previous ambiguous statements about gay seminary candidates, which viewed them with suspicion. This ambiguity caused lots of fear and discrimination in the church, way beyond the arena of seminary admissions.”

“This new clarification treats gay candidates in the same way that heterosexual candidates are treated,” added DeBernardo. “That type of equal treatment is what the church should be aiming for in regards to all LGBTQ+ issues.”

The Vatican in 2016 reaffirmed gay men becoming priests.

“The church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture,’” reads a document the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy released that Pope Francis approved.

The document essentially reaffirmed the Vatican’s 2005 position on the issue. (Benedict XVI was pope at the time.)

The Vatican’s tone towards LGBTQ and intersex issues has softened since Francis became pope in 2013.

Francis publicly backs civil unions for same-sex couples, and has described laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust.” Francis in 2023 said priests can bless same-sex couples.

The pontiff earlier this month named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who DeBernardo notes has made “strong positive statements regarding LGBTQ+ issues,” as the new archbishop of Washington. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Brian Burch, the president and co-founder of CatholicVote, an anti-LGBTQ Catholic group, to become the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

Francis during a 2023 interview with an Argentine newspaper described gender ideology as “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” in the world because “it blurs differences and the value of men and women.” A declaration the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released last March with Francis’s approval condemned gender-affirming surgeries and “gender theory.”

FRANCE

Clips and memes of the song “Nobody Mourns the Wicked,” from the hit movie musical “Wicked” went viral in France this week after the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of France’s far-right National Rally party. Le Pen was 96 when he passed away on Jan. 7 and was the father of current National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.

Le Pen rose to prominence in the 1970s and 80s as a politician with his frequent tirades against immigrants, Muslims, and queer people. He ran for president of France five times, making it to the second round in the 2002 election, where he was defeated in an historic landslide.

In 2018, a court found Le Pen guilty of spreading hate toward homosexuals on three separate incidents and ordered him to pay fines. He had claimed that pedophilia was linked to homosexuality in a 2016 blog video, had told a reporter that having gays in his party was like having too much salt in soup, and then said the husband of a gay police officer who had been killed in a terrorist attack should not have been allowed to speak at the officer’s state funeral. 

In the 1980s, he also advocated for the forced isolation of anyone living with HIV.

But his controversial statements don’t end there. He frequently voiced support for those who collaborated with the Nazi regime in World War II and downplayed the Holocaust, suggesting it was a mere “detail” of history and that mass murders never took place. Those remarks saw him fined by multiple courts over the years.

His daughter Marine took over the National Rally in 2011, and in 2015, the party expelled him over his refusal to attend a disciplinary hearing over his repeated Holocaust denial.

Shortly after news of LePen’s death broke, hundreds of people gathered at Paris’s Place de la République to celebrate, with many waving Pride flags and tossing confetti in celebration. The hashtag “NoOneMournsTheWicked” started trending on French X.

In a fun bit of transatlantic synchronicity, the same hashtag trended in the U.S. three days later, when news broke of the death of notorious 80s homophobe Anita Bryant.

AUSTRALIA

Melbourne’s major Pride festival Midsumma has become the focus of controversy this week, with the lobby group Transgender Victoria announcing it won’t participate in this year’s parade and a group of masked vandals defacing businesses that were showing support for the festival.

Overnight on Jan. 8, businesses along the parade route that supported the festival were vandalized with posters and spray paint calling for a boycott of Midsumma. The vandals were caught on video surveillance but have not been identified.

The posters variously decry the commercialization of Pride and the participation of police in the festival.  

“We will not be satisfied with a commercialized gay identity, that denies the intrinsic links between queer struggle and challenging power,” says one poster. “We are dedicated to fighting the assimilationist monster with a devastating mobilization of queer brilliance.” 

“Queer liberation not rainbow capitalism,” says another, which lists Midsumma’s sponsors as Amazon, Woolworth’s, AGL, and L’Oreal. 

“No Pride on stolen land,” says another poster.

Businesses were able to clean up most of the damage before the start of business Thursday.

On Sunday, Transgender Victoria,, the state’s leading trans advocacy group, posted on its Instagram account that it was suspending its participation in the festival, citing concerns over police involvement.

“A recent community forum and survey conducted by TGV have confirmed a deep and pervasive discontent among TGD [trans and gender diverse] people regarding their interactions with and treatment by Victoria Police,” the statement says. “In light of these concerns, TGV’s Committee has approved a one-year suspension of participation in the Midsumma Pride March. Our future participation is contingent on Victoria Police accepting accountability for measurable change.”

TGV’s statement says it will participate in other Midsumma events and will schedule a Trans Pride Picnic as an alternative to the Pride march. 

Last year’s Pride march was a site of conflict, when a group of about 50 protesters doused a contingent of police officers marching in the parade with pink paint. Officers were seen on video pushing protesters out of the way. The police officers had agreed to join the parade out of uniform and without weapons. 

This year’s Midsumma Festival runs from Jan. 19 to Feb. 9 in Melbourne, with the Midsumma Pride March on Feb. 2 and Victoria’s Pride Street Party on Feb 9.