Family Law Reform and Same-Sex Marriage Legalisation Movements: Comparative Study – India vs Commonwealth Nations
Abstract
The struggle for the recognition of same-sex marriage has emerged as one of the defining human-rights debates
of the twenty-first century, reshaping the conceptual boundaries of family, citizenship, and equality across legal
systems. Within the Commonwealth—a network of nations bound by shared colonial legacies and constitutional
traditions—the movement for marriage equality has followed divergent trajectories, revealing the complex
interplay between culture, religion, and law. India’s recent deliberations before the Supreme Court in Supriyo
Chakraborty v. Union of India (2023) brought this global discourse into sharp national focus, testing the
elasticity of the Indian Constitution’s equality and liberty clauses. This paper situates India’s experience within
a comparative frame encompassing Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and other
Commonwealth jurisdictions that have enacted or debated same-sex marriage legislation. It analyses how
colonial legal inheritances such as Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, patriarchal family laws, and
heteronormative interpretations of constitutional morality continue to influence modern jurisprudence. Drawing
on doctrinal, sociological, and comparative approaches, the research explores how reform in family law becomes
both a mirror and a catalyst for broader transformations in constitutional democracy.
The abstract encapsulates the argument that the Indian path toward marriage equality is neither linear nor
isolated but embedded in a global narrative of decolonisation, human dignity, and pluralism. It further contends
that the recognition of same-sex unions is not merely a question of private morality but a constitutional
imperative flowing from Articles 14, 15, 19, 21, and 25. Through an examination of judicial reasoning, legislative
processes, and civil-society mobilisation across Commonwealth nations, the study demonstrates that marriage
equality represents the logical culmination of human-rights evolution from decriminalisation to substantive
citizenship. The findings forecast that India’s future in this domain will depend on reconciling constitutional
values with social realities through incremental yet principled reform that harmonises equality with diversity.
of the twenty-first century, reshaping the conceptual boundaries of family, citizenship, and equality across legal
systems. Within the Commonwealth—a network of nations bound by shared colonial legacies and constitutional
traditions—the movement for marriage equality has followed divergent trajectories, revealing the complex
interplay between culture, religion, and law. India’s recent deliberations before the Supreme Court in Supriyo
Chakraborty v. Union of India (2023) brought this global discourse into sharp national focus, testing the
elasticity of the Indian Constitution’s equality and liberty clauses. This paper situates India’s experience within
a comparative frame encompassing Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and other
Commonwealth jurisdictions that have enacted or debated same-sex marriage legislation. It analyses how
colonial legal inheritances such as Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, patriarchal family laws, and
heteronormative interpretations of constitutional morality continue to influence modern jurisprudence. Drawing
on doctrinal, sociological, and comparative approaches, the research explores how reform in family law becomes
both a mirror and a catalyst for broader transformations in constitutional democracy.
The abstract encapsulates the argument that the Indian path toward marriage equality is neither linear nor
isolated but embedded in a global narrative of decolonisation, human dignity, and pluralism. It further contends
that the recognition of same-sex unions is not merely a question of private morality but a constitutional
imperative flowing from Articles 14, 15, 19, 21, and 25. Through an examination of judicial reasoning, legislative
processes, and civil-society mobilisation across Commonwealth nations, the study demonstrates that marriage
equality represents the logical culmination of human-rights evolution from decriminalisation to substantive
citizenship. The findings forecast that India’s future in this domain will depend on reconciling constitutional
values with social realities through incremental yet principled reform that harmonises equality with diversity.