Gay rights in India sit in an uneasy middle ground: consensual same-sex relations between adults are legal, but same-sex couples cannot marry, cannot jointly adopt, cannot access surrogacy, and have no statutory protection against discrimination in private employment or housing. A surviving same-sex partner has no automatic right to inherit. The Supreme Court has recognized sexual orientation as a protected aspect of identity under the Constitution, yet almost every civil right that flows from marriage remains unavailable unless Parliament creates it.
What Decriminalization Changed
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, an 1860 colonial provision punishing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” with up to life imprisonment, criminalized consensual same-sex acts for more than 150 years.1Indian Kanoon. Indian Penal Code 1860 – Section 377 In 2018, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India unanimously read down Section 377 to exclude private consensual acts between adults, leaving the provision in place only for non-consensual acts and bestiality. The ruling rested on constitutional guarantees of dignity, privacy, and equality.
When the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita replaced the Indian Penal Code in July 2024, no equivalent of Section 377 was carried forward. The legislative framework now matches the judicial position: consensual same-sex relations are not a crime.
Decriminalization ended the threat of prosecution. It did not create marriage rights, adoption rights, inheritance rights, or protection against discrimination. Those remain separate legal questions, and on most of them the answer is still no.
Marriage and Civil Unions
Same-sex marriage is not recognized in India. In October 2023, the Supreme Court decided Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty v. Union of India, where petitioners had asked the Court to read the Special Marriage Act of 1954 in a gender-neutral way so that same-sex couples could marry under it.2Supreme Court Observer. Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty and Anr. v Union of India A five-judge bench held unanimously that there is no fundamental right to marry under the Constitution and that the Court could not direct Parliament to enact same-sex marriage.
The bench split on whether the state must at least recognize queer unions short of marriage. Chief Justice Chandrachud, writing for two justices, found that queer couples have a constitutionally protected freedom to form unions and that the state has an obligation to recognize them. Justice Bhat, writing for the three-judge majority, held that any such recognition must come from legislation, not the judiciary.3Centre for Law and Policy Research. Supriyo and Ors. vs. Union of India The majority view controls. Neither marriage nor civil unions are available to same-sex couples under any Indian statute, including the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act, which apply only to heterosexual couples.
The Cabinet Secretary Committee and the Banking Advisory
During Supriyo, the Solicitor General committed on record that the Union Government would form a committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary to identify entitlements that could be extended to queer couples in unions.3Centre for Law and Policy Research. Supriyo and Ors. vs. Union of India That committee has been functioning since late 2023 with limited output.
Its one concrete result is in banking. In August 2024, the Reserve Bank of India directed scheduled banks that LGBTQ+ individuals face no restrictions on opening joint accounts or nominating a partner as beneficiary, and the Ministry of Finance issued an advisory that banks may not require proof of marital status for joint account applications.4Ministry of Finance. Advisory Regarding Opening Joint Bank Account and Nomination Thereof by Persons of Queer Community No comparable reforms have been announced in healthcare, pension, or tenancy.
Discrimination and Workplace Protections
India has no comprehensive law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, or the delivery of services. The constitutional protections announced in Navtej Singh Johar and, for gender identity, in NALSA v. Union of India bind government actors. They do not reach private employers or landlords. An Anti-Discrimination and Equality Bill introduced in Parliament in 2017 has not advanced.
The gap extends to sexual harassment at work. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013 covers only “aggrieved women.” In 2023, the Supreme Court declined to expand the statute to include LGBTQ+ complainants, holding that a gender-neutral reading would dilute the law’s purpose of protecting women. Men and non-binary individuals who experience workplace sexual harassment have no dedicated statutory remedy under this Act, regardless of orientation.
Housing discrimination is similarly unregulated by statute. Landlord harassment, refusal to rent, and arbitrary eviction have been documented by international monitoring organizations but have no direct legal remedy tied to sexual orientation.
Adoption, Surrogacy, and Assisted Reproduction
Adoption in India is governed by the Central Adoption Resource Authority’s 2022 regulations. A single person can adopt: a single woman can adopt a child of any gender, and a single man can adopt but not a girl child. Married couples must show at least two years of stable marriage.5CARA. Adoption Regulations, 2022 The regulations say nothing about LGBTQ+ applicants. The practical effect is that one partner in a same-sex relationship can apply as a single adopter, but the couple cannot apply jointly. Only the applying partner becomes a legally recognized parent, and the other has no legal relationship with the child.p>
Surrogacy is closed to same-sex couples. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 permits commissioning surrogacy only by a “couple,” defined as a “legally married Indian man and woman.”6Department of Health and Family Welfare. Frequently Asked Questions on Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 restricts most procedures to an “infertile married couple,” which in Indian law means a heterosexual married couple.7National Judicial Academy. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 Single women over 21 can access some ART services; single men and male same-sex couples have no route to surrogacy or most ART procedures under these statutes.
Inheritance and Legal Planning for Couples
Without recognized marriage, a same-sex partner has no automatic inheritance right. Under the Hindu Succession Act, which governs intestate succession for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs, Class I heirs are the widow, sons, daughters, mother, and other listed blood relations.8India Code. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 The Indian Succession Act, which applies to Christians, Parsis, and others, follows a comparable spousal-and-blood-relative framework. A same-sex partner sits outside both. When the deceased’s family contests the estate, the surviving partner can be displaced from a shared home.
The 2024 banking advisory closed one narrow gap by confirming that a same-sex partner can be named a bank account nominee.4Ministry of Finance. Advisory Regarding Opening Joint Bank Account and Nomination Thereof by Persons of Queer Community A nomination lets that partner collect the funds, but legal heirs can still challenge the claim in court. Nomination is not inheritance.
Private legal planning is the most reliable protection currently available. A registered will can name a partner as beneficiary for property, financial assets, and personal belongings. A power of attorney can authorize a partner to make financial and medical decisions during incapacity. Without these documents, assets pass to blood relatives under intestacy rules.
Immigration and Foreign Same-Sex Spouses
A foreign same-sex marriage carries no legal weight in India for immigration purposes. A foreign national married to an Indian citizen of the same sex does not qualify for a spousal or dependent visa on the basis of that marriage. Overseas Citizen of India card applications from same-sex spouses have reportedly been refused by consular offices on the ground that same-sex marriage is not recognized under Indian law. Partners of people relocating to India for work generally need to obtain independent visas rather than dependent visas tied to the relationship. Practice varies between consular offices, and outcomes turn on administrative discretion rather than published policy.
Conversion Therapy
There is no national statute banning conversion therapy, but it is professional misconduct for registered medical practitioners. In 2021, the Madras High Court in S. Sushma v. Commissioner of Police directed the National Medical Commission and State Medical Councils to remove pathologization of non-heterosexual relations from medical education and practice.9Centre for Law and Policy Research. S. Sushma and Ors. vs. Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai In 2022, the National Medical Commission classified conversion therapy as professional misconduct under the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquettes and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, and State Medical Councils can take disciplinary action against practitioners. The rule reaches registered medical professionals only. It does not cover religious figures, unlicensed counselors, or family-arranged interventions.
A Note on Transgender Rights
Transgender individuals in India are covered by a separate legal framework, not the general position on sexual orientation described above. The Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in NALSA v. Union of India recognized transgender persons as a third gender for constitutional purposes, and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 provides a statutory identity-recognition process, prohibits discrimination in education, employment, and healthcare, and creates specific criminal offences for abuse of transgender persons with penalties of six months to two years’ imprisonment and a fine.10India Code. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 – Section 18 These protections apply based on gender identity, not sexual orientation, and do not extend to gay, lesbian, or bisexual individuals as such.