Menaka Guruswamy & the marriage project

Brut India

Why is marriage also a big deal for India’s LGBTQ+ community? Menaka Guruswamy explains...  :

Transcript

00:00We are a marriage country.

00:02I am in a relationship with my partner.

00:05But what name do I give this relationship?

00:08Because we are not a country that recognizes

00:10girlfriends and boyfriends or dating.

00:11One of the biggest things I think I have learned

00:14from being gay is simply this,

00:16that these are journeys that not just that you make,

00:20but these are journeys that our families make.

00:30We are a marriage country.

00:32We are a marriage country.

00:34We are a marriage country.

00:36We are a marriage country.

00:38We are a marriage country.

00:40We are a marriage country.

00:42We are a marriage country.

00:44We are a marriage country.

00:46We are a marriage country.

00:48We are a marriage country.

00:50We are a marriage country.

00:52We are a marriage country.

00:54We are a marriage country.

00:56We are a marriage country.

00:59The Marriage Project

01:15The Marriage Project

01:20Maybe the history of the law,

01:22if you wanted one way of imagining and understanding the law,

01:26so much of the history of the law has been about policing love.

01:29Whether it's interracial relationships,

01:33whether it's inter-caste relationships,

01:35the history of my country is about prohibiting that.

01:39And the Constitutional Project

01:41is about remedying the disadvantage of caste.

01:45The Courts Project has been about enabling

01:49inter-religious and inter-caste marriages.

01:52And that has been a project

01:55of contemporary, modern, constitutional India.

01:58But that has not been the norm

02:01of the social, religious and civilizational India as we understand it.

02:06The second part of this project

02:09is why marriage?

02:11Now there's a legal answer to that

02:16and there is a social answer to that.

02:19The legal system in India and in most countries,

02:24anywhere in the world,

02:25is premised on a bundle of rights

02:28that recognizes our personhood.

02:30And we may agree or disagree with it,

02:32but that bundle of rights,

02:35who do I leave my home to?

02:37Who do I nominate for life insurance?

02:41Who do I have as a co-signee on a lease?

02:45Can I buy Arundhati medical insurance? No, I cannot.

02:49So the legal system, can I open a joint bank account?

02:54Can I avoid paying estate taxes

02:57if I leave my little home to her?

03:00I hope she'll leave her larger home to me.

03:03But all of this, seriously, all of this

03:06is premised on one thing,

03:08blood relationship.

03:10And blood relationship is not just

03:12a child and a parent.

03:14Blood relationship is that of marriage,

03:17a spousal relationship.

03:19So if you want to be part

03:21of the legal project of rights,

03:24civil liberties, protections,

03:26then you either have to be born

03:29to someone or you have to be married to someone.

03:31We are a marriage country.

03:34Young woman called me up

03:36shortly after the judgment.

03:38She's a very well-known Indian.

03:40And she is dating someone.

03:44She's very prominent.

03:46And she's come out on national TV.

03:50And she said one thing.

03:52I am in a relationship with my partner.

03:55But what name do I give this relationship?

03:57Because we are not a country that recognizes

03:59girlfriends and boyfriends or dating.

04:01We're a country that sanctifies

04:03one kind of relationship,

04:05and that is marriage.

04:07All of that aside,

04:09young people in India, gay or straight,

04:13different religions, different castes, different classes,

04:16when you speak to them,

04:18they all aspire for one thing in common,

04:21which is a long-term partnership,

04:23which is premised on marriage.

04:25Part of those aspirations of occupational success

04:29includes the aspiration of personal happiness.

04:32And a core part of that personal happiness

04:34that they see for the rest of their lives

04:36is having someone to love,

04:39that the law recognizes

04:41that they can in turn take home to their families.

04:44One of the biggest things I think I have learned

04:48from being gay is simply this,

04:50that these are journeys that not just that you make,

04:54but these are journeys that our families make.

04:56These are journeys that people who disagree with us make.

04:59And these are journeys that we make collectively.

05:02You cannot go on a march by yourself.

05:05You have to take people with you.

05:07And if you want to take people with you,

05:09you have to be able to talk to them

05:11in ways that there is some resonance.

05:17For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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