"Not recognising same-sex marriage will cause havoc in our daily lives." Last year, this couple had an appeal to the Prime Minister.
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00:00Dear Prime Minister, we want to talk to you about our marriage.
00:04And not just ours, sir. We want to talk about all the Indian citizens who are in same-sex relationships and want to get married.
00:13I'm Shantika and this is my… this is Nik.
00:17I wanted to say wife or partner, but the Centre's opposition to same-sex marriage denies us that right.
00:24Denies us the right to legal and social legitimacy of our relationship.
00:29A basic right, sir, that every other straight citizen of this country has, but not us.
00:35Why are we less as Indian citizens?
00:38For Shantika and I, we are each other's family.
00:41We are together since nearly four years now.
00:45We live together, we work together, we cook together, we have even built a home together.
00:50And for all intent and purposes, I see her as my wife.
00:55And why are we telling you this?
00:58Because, sir, marriage is marriage. Our marriage is a court case.
01:03Centre opposes same-sex marriage, saying it will cause complete havoc.
01:07But not recognising it will cause havoc in our daily lives.
01:11On the legal front, everything that comes with a marriage right.
01:15Can I leave my home to Shantika? Can I buy her medical insurance?
01:20And socially, sir, even though we are a family, but we are still viewed as friends.
01:26We are seen as these two single girls that just live together.
01:32And just imagine this scenario.
01:35Let's say Nick and I, we stay together for the next 20-30 years.
01:40And 20 years down the lane, God forbid, she falls sick and is in the ICU.
01:47I won't even be seen as family, let alone her wife, when it comes to making medical decisions.
01:54I'll just be disregarded as a friend after 20 years together.
01:59Sir, recently, the central government, while opposing the same-sex marriage plea,
02:04said that same-sex relationship cannot be compared to the Indian concept of family,
02:09which is a husband, wife and a child born out of their union.
02:13We are in 2023, and there can't be just one definition of family unit.
02:19Given the population of this country, should procreation be the only reason for marriage?
02:24So why limit this definition of Indian family unit when it comes to us?
02:29It is an issue of high importance, not just in terms of how it impacts our personal life,
02:36but also whether or not we are a country that views all its citizens equally.
02:42So sir, the point is that we should also get the right to get married.
02:47Because we are also an Indian family unit, sir.
02:52We, the queer citizens of India, deserve the same right as every other citizen in this country.
03:00And we'd like to appeal to you to please see that.