"We are growing old. Some of us will touch 80 soon. We hope that we get to see the legal stamp on the rainbow marriages of our children in our lifetime."
Parents of LGBTQIA+ persons, who are part of a support group called Sweekar - The Rainbow Parents, have accepted their children and their partners for who they are – but they also want the Indian society to open its gates for them.
Reading out an open letter to the Supreme Court, urging the five-judge bench to legally recognise marriage equality, Meghna Kulkarni, a parent, said:
"From knowing about gender and sexuality, to understanding the lives of our children, to finally accepting their sexuality and their loved one – we have gone through the whole gamut of emotions."
"We empathise with those who are opposing marriage equality, because some of us were there too. It took us education, debate, and patience with our LGBTQIA+ children: to realise that their lives, their feelings and their desires are valid. Similarly, we hope that those who oppose marriage equality will come around too," added another member of the group, Ashish Garg.
Aruna Desai, the founder of Sweekar, said, "On 6 September 2018, the honourable Supreme Court of India read down section 377 to decriminalise consensual sexual relationships, and in doing so, with its statements, ascertained that our children should be treated with dignity and acceptance."
"Society is a changing and evolving phenomenon. Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, the judgment by the honourable Supreme Court created a ripple effect on society and has helped move the needle from hate to tolerance to acceptance."Meghna Kulkarni
The parents said that they desired to see their children and their children-in-law find legal acceptance for their relationship under the Special Marriages Act.
"We are certain that a nation as big as ours, which respects its diversity and stands for the value of inclusion, will open its legal gates of marriage equality to our children too," the parents added.
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