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On April 18, 2023, the Supreme Court of India began hearing petitions seeking the legalisation of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act. The Special Marriage Act of 1954 provides a civil form of marriage for couples who cannot marry under their personal law.
While the main petitioners of the case, Supriyo and Abhay Dang argue that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage amounts to discrimination that strikes at the root of the dignity and self-fulfilment of LGBTQIA+ couples, many religious bodies and NGOs have rushed to court claiming that Indian society isn’t ready for the legalisation of such marriages. Their justifications range from issues such as the definition of “marriage” to the “psychological impact” growing up with two men or two women as parents would have on children.
The Union government has also taken a stance against marriage equality, invoking that such a decision comes under the purview of Parliament and not the judiciary and that the petition reflected urban elitist views and will not be accepted by the general public.
Attitude towards homosexuality in India
While the Union government claimed that the legalisation of same-sex marriages merely voiced “urban elitist views”, data show that the urban elite people were not more accepting of same-sex relationships than the rural poor. According to a survey conducted by CSDS-Lokniti & Azim Premji University in 2019, only 19% of respondents believed that same-sex relationships should be accepted, while 55% disagreed. Around 25% did not give an opinion on this topic. Notably, 59% of respondents from urban regions disagreed with accepting same-sex relationships in India, while 53% from rural regions were against such relationships.
Additionally, the share of respondents who strongly disagreed with accepting same-sex couples in society increased by 6% points, from 47% among the poor to 53% among the upper class.
Across religious groups, there was a negative attitude towards same-sex marriages. Over 70% of Christian respondents rejected same-sex relationships, while 50% of Muslims had a similar opinion. The share of Hindus and Sikhs was at 40%. Notably, acceptance of same-sex relationships was highest among the Hindus (22%).
Around the world
While the attitude towards homosexuality, same-sex relationships and marriages varied to some extent across groups in Indian society, the government’s position against same-sex marriages is not unique, since only 34 countries have legalised marriage between homosexual couples, even though 133 countries have decriminalised homosexuality.
In 2022, more than 6.77 billion people around the world are living in countries where same-sex marriage is not legal, while only 1.21 billion are living in nations where it is legal.
According to a survey conducted in 2020 by the Pew Research Center, Western Europe and the U.S. were generally more accepting of homosexuality than Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Religious beliefs, political attitudes and economic conditions of a country factor into the people’s attitude towards homosexuality, let alone same-sex marriages.
In 2002, the share of people who accepted homosexuality in the U.S. stood at 51%. The share increased to 72% in 2019. Notably, though the share of people who accepted homosexuality in South Africa and India was relatively low, there was a significant rise in their acceptance rate over time. For instance, in 2002, 33% of respondents in South Africa accepted homosexuality, while it increased to 54% by 2019. Only 15% of people accepted homosexuality in India in 2013. The share increased by 22% points to 37% in 2019, indicating a fast-paced change in attitude towards homosexuality.
In Latin American countries like Argentina and Brazil, there is a significant increase in the share of people who are accepting of homosexuality. In Argentina, there was a 10% points increase in the share of people who believed that homosexuality must be accepted by society. It increased from 66% in 2002 to 76% in 2019 in the country. In Brazil, this share rose from 61% in 2011 to 67% in 2019. But a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2014, showed that people in Latin America were less accepting of same-sex marriages. While 45% of people in Brazil and 52% of people in Argentina accepted same-sex marriages, in eight Latin American countries including Honduras, Paraguay and Ecuador, more than 70% of people did not accept marriage equality.
In the case of Europe, while in countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Spain more than 75% of people accept the homosexual community, Eastern European countries were less tolerant of homosexuality. Countries like Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Hungary have less than 35% of people accepting of the community.
Religious beliefs seem to play a major factor in influencing the attitude of people towards homosexuality in Eastern Europe. With a dominant share of the population identifying as Catholics in Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and Croatia, the religion’s repulsion towards same-sex couples is reflected in their attitude towards them, according to a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center. Above 60% of Catholics in Croatia, Poland and Hungary were against same-sex marriage. This share was above 80% among Catholics from Latvia, Belarus and Lithuania.
African countries have the lowest level of tolerance towards homosexuality, with less than 10% of people accepting it in countries like Tunisia and Nigeria. According to a survey conducted by Afrobarometer, among the 23 African countries analysed in 2019-20, 18 countries including Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya and Uganda, above 70% of people were intolerant of homosexual neighbours. Senegal was at the top of the list, with 98% of people strongly disliking having a homosexual neighbour.
Asian countries follow African countries in their intolerance of homosexuality. The survey by Pew Research Center also showed that only 9% of people were accepting of homosexuality in Indonesia in 2019. In Turkey, the share was 25%, while in Lebanon the acceptance of homosexuality was at 13%. Notably, the Philippines stood out in this, as close to 65% of people were accepting of homosexuality in 2002, which rose to 73% by 2019. Japan also fared quite well, with 68% of people accepting the homosexual community in 2019.
Cultural beliefs and the influence of monotheistic religions that colonised Asian and African nations play an important factor in the varied views and attitudes towards homosexuality in these continents.
Fortnightly figures
- 142.86 crore is India’s projected population by mid-2023, ahead of China’s 142.57 crore, according to data released by the United Nations. With 29 lakh more people in the country, India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country. Contrary to the alarm bells about exploding numbers, population trends everywhere point to slower growth and ageing societies. Two-thirds of people now live in a country where lifetime fertility corresponds with zero growth, with only eight countries accounting for half the projected growth in global population by 2050
- ₹14.6 lakh crore is worth of the project investments in India in the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2023. This quarter saw the highest-ever investments, driven by private sector outlays that also hit an all-time high of ₹10.5 lakh crore. The record uptick is led by manufacturing investments, lifting the total new investment projects announced in India during a financial year to a fresh peak of ₹37 lakh crore in 2022-23.
- 6.03% was the rise in total goods exports in 2022-23, at $447.46 billion, while the import bill surged by a steeper 16.5% to $714 billion. In March, India’s goods exports declined for the second successive month, falling a sharp 13.9% to $38.38 billion while imports dipped 7.9% to $58.11 billion. The goods trade deficit rose almost 40% to over $266 billion in 2022-23, compared to $190 billion in 2021-22, according to the Commerce Ministry.
- 754 Indians stranded in war-torn Sudan were evacuated and brought back to India on April 28, 2023, under Operation Kaveri. While 392 people arrived in New Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft of the Indian Air Force, another batch of 362 Indians were brought to Bengaluru. The total number of Indians brought home now stands at 1,360, according to official data. Indians have been rescued in buses from conflict zones in Khartoum and other areas to Port Sudan. Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.
- 5.66% was India’s consumer inflation in March 2023, sliding below the 6% mark for the first time in 2023 — and only the third time in the last 15 months. The drop was aided by base effects, as the same month had recorded an almost 7% price rise last year. March’s inflation level was last witnessed in December 2021, following which prices rose at a pace faster than the Central Bank’s upper tolerance threshold of 6% for ten months in a row.
Chart of the week
The chart shows all the days between 1952 and 2023 that recorded a maximum temperature of 40°C or above in Kolkata. (Red cross) indicates April, (peach cross) indicates May and (blue cross) indicates June. In previous years, the days that touched/crossed the 40°C mark came in May or June. Only once in 2016, did the temperature touch 40°C in April. But in 2023, by April 18, the temperature had crossed the 40°C mark thrice. This is of significance because temperatures increase gradually to peak at the end of April or at the start of May. Whereas in April 2023, the record temperatures were recorded around mid-April, showing that warmer temperatures are being recorded much earlier this year.
To know more about the heatwave across various States of India check out this story
Flashback
As Karnataka is preparing for its State elections this year, the data team analysed the electoral patterns of the State in the previous years. The data point titled “Data | BJP had the edge in the recent bipolar contests in Karnataka”, published on April 22, 2023, shows that in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, 77% of the seats witnessed bipolar contests, which meant that only two parties were effectively fighting the election in those constituencies. This marked a shift from the 2013 and 2008 elections when less than 50% of the seats witnessed a bipolar contest. Bipolar contests benefitted the BJP, which rose to power in the State that year. This is not exclusive to Karnataka as Uttar Pradesh also showed a similar pattern, in the 2022 State elections. The data point titled, “Data | Bipolar contests benefit the BJP in Uttar Pradesh polls”, published on March 16, 2022, shows that over 70% of the seats saw a bipolar contest, compared to just 7.4% of seats in 2002 in U.P. Data also showed that the BJP benefits the most from bipolar contests, while the Samajwadi Party has an edge in nonbipolar seats. In general, multi-cornered fights involving more than three parties have become a rarity in the country.
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