Ashwini Upadhyay said that Indian culture is very different from western culture where homosexual marriages are common
NEW DELHI: Following the Supreme Court’s verdict denying marriage as a fundamental right, and in essence, denying same-sex couples the right to marry on Tuesday, senior advocate Ashwini Upadhyay hailed the judgment, thanking the SC of safeguarding “India’s culture and family structure”.
Upadhyay told The New Indian, “I would like to thank the Supreme Court of India for this judgment, which safeguards India’s culture, its family structure, and marriage system.”
According to the advocate, marriage in Indian culture is very different from what it is in western culture.”In India, marriage is primarily for procreation, for expanding one’s family and contributing to society. Marriages in India are not solely for sexual pleasure or mere enjoyment. Such arrangements are more common in foreign cultures where people enter into contractual or homosexual marriages.”
Upadhyay also congratulated the apex court for upholding the country’s constitutional values when they directed the government to legislate upon it, while refusing to amend the Special Marriage Act. He said, “Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with the decision. The bench has made it clear that they will not alter the Special Marriages Act, nor will they alter its validity or its wordings. The demand to make marriage a fundamental right has also been rejected by the Supreme Court.”
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The senior advocate also remained ecstatic about the fact that LGBTQIA+ couples had been denied adoption rights, stating, “Three out of five judges have also said that adoption rights shall also not be provided to homosexual couples. That too has been rejected, which is why we feel it is a good decision,” he added.
Following this Upadhyay went on a rant labelling homosexuality as a “mental disorder”. He remarked, “I believe homosexuality is a mental disorder, it is not a natural phenomenon. If there is a mental disorder, we are supposed to treat it, not further support it or recognize it as normal.”
He called for homosexual couples to continue living together in their homes but refrain from demanding equal rights, saying, “If they want to live in a same-sex relationship, then continue to do that in your home; nobody is stopping you, the police isn’t stopping you. But if you demand equal rights for that, which goes against the culture of India, it is wrong. We follow the constitution of Bharat, not America or Europe, so it should be based on Indian culture, not foreign culture.”
Once again, questioning the validity of same-sex relationships, Ashwini Upadhyay said, “It’s not like they will give birth to children later on, that is not possible. What’s going to happen in the future, only the future can tell. But what I believe is marriage is a pious relation that is only supposed to be between a male and a female, not between same-sex couples.”