Kerala church strongly opposes legal validation sought for same-sex marriages

Hailing the stand taken by the Union Government in the Supreme Court against same-sex marriages, the Syro-Malabar Church, an influential Catholic church in Kerala, has said giving legal validation for such relationships is unnatural and an injustice to the family system that exists in the country.

The Church opined that same-sex marriage is also a violation of the rights of children to be born and grow in a natural relationship between man and woman.

Giving it legal validation may even trigger demands to legalise sexual disorders like physical attraction to children, animals and so on, the Public Affairs Commission of the Syro-Malabar Church said.

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The church said it has officially submitted its views on the matter to the President of India.

The Church placed its view before the President in response to the opinion sought by the Centre from the civil society on the same-sex marriage issue, as the apex court had asked the same from them, said the statement issued by the Public Affairs Commission.

The church appreciated the central government for filing a counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court against providing legal validation to same-sex marriages.

It opined that the Centre's stand was taken as per Indian culture, where marriage is a relationship between two persons of the opposite sex and a family comprises a biological man and biological woman and their children.

The Church said it also strongly opposes the bid to give legal validation to such relations as it is against its scriptures, traditions, and teachings.

"Same-sex marriage is a negation of the natural order of relationships between a man and a woman. It is also an injustice to the family concept and civil society," it said.

In the statement, the church also made it clear that, though it has a sympathetic attitude towards sexual minorities, its strong stand is that marriage is the relationship between men and women.

A five-judge constitution bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud is hearing arguments on a batch of pleas seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriage.

While urging it to dismiss the petitions seeking legal validation for same-sex marriage, the Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the right to choose a partner does not necessarily imply the right to marry such a person over and above the procedure established by law.

In his written submissions, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said there cannot be a presumption that the State is obliged to recognise all human relationships, rather, the presumption has to be that the state has no business to recognise any personal relationships, unless it has a legitimate state interest in regulating the same.

The hearing in the matter would continue on May 9.