Queering the Law
Queering the Law: Beyond Supriyo
In 2019, the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy published, ‘Queering the Law: Making Indian Laws LGBT+ Inclusive’, a set of five Chapters that analyses India’s legal regime across the broad themes of ‘Identity’, ‘Violence’, ‘Family’ and Employment in light of landmark judgements of the Supreme Court in cases such as NALSA v. Union of India, and Navtej Johar v. Union of India.
In 2023, the Supreme Court of India, in Supriyo v. Union of India, while denying marriage equality to certain sections of the queer community, directed the State to set up a High Powered Commission to identify and address the discrimination that queer persons face on account of their gender identity/sexual orientation, and non-recognition of their relationships. Vidhi and the Keshav Suri Foundation collaborated to make joint submissions to to the Committee outlining legislative and executive measures the State can take to recognise rights of queer persons across four core areas: relationships and family, discrimination in access to goods and services, queer affirmative healthcare, and prohibition and rehabilitation from violence. These submissions were informed by public consultations attended by around 150 stakeholders including queer civil society, lawyers, activists, academics, amongst others.
Based on the submissions to the Committee, KSF and Vidhi have finalised four policy briefs titled ‘Queering the Law: Beyond Supriyo’. These simple and accessible policy briefs outline law and policy measures that the State can undertake to recognise rights of the community across four key areas: families, discrimination, healthcare and violence.
The objective of these briefs is to aid advocacy and strategic litigation efforts by queer civil society and allied stakeholders to push for queer inclusive law reform at both the Union and State level. They hope to serve as a resource for debate, deliberation and strategy building, while outlining potential interventions across identified sectors.
Recognition of Queer Relationships and Families
This policy brief addresses the need for legal recognition of queer families and relationships. Part A focuses on relationships between parties and recognition of a variety of family structures in law. Part B on parent-child relations, recommends amendments to the secular law on adoption to make them queer inclusive and suggests targeted measures for reform of laws governing parenthood to make them modern and inclusive of atypical families.
Discrimination in Access to Goods and Services
This policy brief makes recommendations to address the discrimination queer persons face. Part A recommends general measures such as a comprehensive anti-discrimination law and reforms to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Part B recommends sector specific recommendations across four sectors: financial services, employment, education, and housing. Recommendations are directed towards both prohibition of discrimination as well as affirmative measures to address systemic exclusion.
Queer Affirmative Healthcare
This policy brief captures wide-ranging recommendations spanning combatting existing discriminatory practices in healthcare, introducing affirmative healthcare, and affecting systemic measures. The removal of existing discrimination includes banning conversion therapy and medically unnecessary intersex surgeries, and ensuring compliance with the law on anti-discrimination against persons living with HIV-AIDS. Recommended affirmative measures include the provision of gender-affirming treatment, affordable mental health support, queer-inclusive health research, and provision for nomination of healthcare representatives of choice. Systemic measures include making health laws queer-inclusive, and increasing the presence of queer-affirmative healthcare workers through improved training and modified curricula, as well as horizontal reservations in public healthcare.
Prohibition of and Rehabilitation from Violence
This policy brief addresses violence propagated by the State and society at large, by the natal family, and domestic and sexual violence. It recommends reforms in law enforcement including police sensitisation, amended police rules and binding directions. Proposed affirmative measures for rehabilitation from violence include shelter homes and emergency helplines. Legislative changes have been suggested to protect queer persons and persons in queer relationships from sexual, domestic and intimate partner violence as well as workplace harassment.