Meena and Budhkunwar live in Bakalo village in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur.
While the government has opposed requests to legalise same-sex marriages this week, telling the Supreme Court that those calling for the reform had a "mere urban elitist view", a cursory look at the countryside reveals the flaw in the argument.
Meena and Budhkunwar, who live in Bakalo village in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur, have been living together as a couple for the past 18 years. As daily wage labourers, they cannot be described as urban or elite. Nevertheless, they await a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court on the plea for legalising same-sex marriages.
Their story is not uncommon in rural India, where individuals face obstacles in expressing their sexual orientation and living with their partners. The LGBTQ community in India is estimated to be over 135 million across rural and urban areas.
Budhkunwar revealed that her parents had driven her away from home when she and Meena expressed their desire to stay together. "I had nowhere to go. I and Meena got together in school only. It's been 18 years, we are building our own house and managing everything on our own," she said.
While the couple faced initial resistance from the villagers, they no longer face hostility. However, not being recognised as a family unit has meant that they are deprived of government welfare schemes like a ration card. Local villager Purushottam stated, "We know both of them are females, and they stay together as husband-wife, we don't have any problem, they earn and live peacefully."
A young man in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal also awaits the Supreme Court's verdict. He has not been able to disclose his sexual orientation to his family or social circle. His family wanted him to join the army, but he chose music instead. "It will not be easy, even if the decision is favourable. I will be able to marry and will be able to say together with him," he said, looking out of his office window.
According to Bosco, a professional architect, life is never easy for same-sex partners, whether in urban or rural areas. "If the Supreme Court's decision comes in our favour, then it will be easy to come in front of your family, will be easy for us to adopt a child, open joint bank accounts, whatever a heterosexual couple can do, we can also do the same," he said.
The government, however, disagrees, opposing the appeals, including some by gay couples because same-sex marriages are not "comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children".
"The petitions, which merely reflect urban elitist views, cannot be compared with the appropriate legislature which reflects the views and voices of a far wider spectrum and expands across the country," it said in a filing to the Supreme Court.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is hearing the case since Tuesday. The country's highest court decriminalised homosexuality in 2018 by scrapping a colonial-era ban on gay sex.