Same Sex Marriage / Marriage Equality- Supreme Court Hearing-LIVE UPDATES

Kirpal: There must be some formal aspect to carry out that larger constitutional right. Section 4 of SMA gives just that.

Kirpal: A declaration of marriage in a vaccum- must be formalised into practical impact of any two people's lives.

Sr Adv Saurabh Kirpal: The idea was to be an equal citizen in this country - to have same rights as everyone else. 

Guruswamy: I would hope that in future when the state comes to argue for or against a case, the state would locate its findings, its opinions after talking to community and relying on studies that exist since last 3 decades.

Guruswamy: The academic results of children raised by same sex parents from birth outperform children raised by heterosexual parents by 0.139 standard deviations on academic tests.

Guruswamy: The big studies done in countries who allow to adopt all make three points- 1. There is no adverse impact on children; 2. Lack of protection has adverse impact on children; 3. Human sexuality develops quite early. Young LGBTQ will be impacted.

Guruswamy: There are over 50 countries in the world that allow same sex couples to adopt. So that is more than the number of countries that allow same sex marriage.

Guruswamy states that the Society recommends for children raised by same sex parents to be protected and prevented from stigma.

Guruswamy: "There is no evidence to indicate that individuals of the LGBTQIA spectrum cannot partake any of above. On the contrary, discrimination which prevents the above leads to mental health issues"

Guruswamy: It's the largest society of mental health professionals in India. It supported the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 2018. This is what they have to say - "LGBTQ citizens be treated like all citizens of the country..."