Beyond the binary: Need for lawful nuptial rights, access to Constitutional rights

Love, in its purest and most profound form, defies the boundaries of gender, biology, and societal expectation.

- DR. KOYEL ROY & DR. PARTHA S. RAKSHIT

It is a universal human experience — one that transcends body, identity, and social construction. Yet, the law in India continues to understand and regulate love and marriage through rigid and binary categories of 'male' and 'female.'For the transgender community, the right to marry — an intimate act of autonomy, companionship, and dignity — remains legally uncertain even after a decade of progressive judicial recognition of gender identity and personal liberty. The movement for transgender marriage rights is therefore not merely a demand for legal reform; it is a struggle for existence, for belonging, and for the right to participate fully in the civic and familial institutions that shape human life.

India made a historic stride in 2014 when the Supreme Court delivered its landmark judgment in National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India. Recognizing transgender persons as the 'third gender,' the Court affirmed that gender identity is intrinsic to one's personality and protected under Articles 14, 15, 16, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. NALSA declared that the right to selfidentify as male, female, or transgender is a fundamental right, marking a revolutionary shift from invisibility to identity, from marginalization to constitutional protection. However, while the judgment granted transgender persons the right to selfidentification, it remained silent on their right to enter into social relationships, including marriage, adoption, partnership, and family formation. In many ways, NALSA opened the door to recognition but left the path to marital rights largely unaddressed, creating a constitutional gap between identity and lived reality.