Why 3 recent judgments from southern High Courts give hope to queer people

Biological or natal family. Chosen family. Marital family.

”Family” has diverse interpretations for queer (LGBTIQAP+) persons worldwide. In India, too, a similar situation prevails. For many queer persons, a chosen family, which can be notional or formal, may have people who are biologically unrelated — a group or unit which provides them emotional, psycho-social, economic and other vital support.

But, as in any domestic setup, a chosen family also has its pros and cons and may not have guaranteed existence or membership.

In this background, three recent affirmative judgments by South Indian High Courts have given hope to the LGBTIQAP+ community. There are gaps in these, too, but these judgments are being hailed for recognising the issues that the community faces in terms of family life, and seeking to address them.

Domestic violence concern

Among the painful problems in any family setup is domestic violence (DV) — violence perpetrated on one or more family members by one or more family members. DV mostly occurs in private spaces and can be physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, or economic. The perpetrators are usually the romantic and/or sexual partners or spouses of the victim or survivor.

Also read: More trans people should join politics for real change: Kalki Subramaniam

Sometimes, the sibling(s), parent(s) or other biological or chosen family members of the victims/survivors could also be among the DV perpetrators.

The relevant legal safeguards in India ie, the Prohibition of Dowry Act 1961, Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 498A and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (DV Act), 2005 are considered applicable only to cisgender women.

Crucial verdict

The Bombay High Court (HC) in 2023 had granted relief to a trans woman who had sought monthly maintenance from her then estranged husband under the DV Act. Yet, not many in the trans and queer community seem to know this.

Also read: How India can make educational institutions queer- and trans-inclusive

So, the June 2025 verdict of the Andhra Pradesh HC that recognised a trans woman’s complaint under IPC section 498A is crucial. It reiterates that trans women are women, underscores the validity of their personal relationships (familial, marital or otherwise) and states that they can seek legal redress against violence in such relationships.

Importantly, in April 2014, the Supreme Court recognised transgender as a valid gender and granted everyone the right to self-determination of gender identity in the judgment on the NALSA vs Union of India petition.

Legitimising queer relationships

Rewind slightly. In 2019, the Madras High Court, and, later on, the Supreme Court, stated that trans persons could register their marriage with anyone. Then, the Madras High Court judgment of May 2025 recognises queer relationships and could strengthen the demand for marriage equality.

Further, in June 2025, the Kerala High Court declared that trans persons could identify themselves as “parents” in the birth certificate of their child, instead of ”mother” or “father”.

Also read: Chennai's first-ever queer photo exhibition opens featuring candid, intimate portraits

These South Indian High Courts are thus being hailed for their regular affirmative judgments.

Wider impact

“The wider impact of these recent judgments is good for the queer and trans community. The Kerala HC judgement acknowledges that queer people can be parents and raise children," Gargi Harithakam, a Bahujan queer feminist in Kerala and co-founder of the Vanaja Collective, told The Federal.

"Even now, due to social stigma, queer people are considered incapable of being suitable parents. This judgment legitimises the fact that queer people can be good parents," Harithakam added. "It is quite tough for children of queer parents, who socialise with children from heteronormative relationships, to handle social stigma.”

Harithakam added that despite online and offline queerphobia and transphobia, some children with queer parents can have positive emotions about themselves and their parents.

Also read: Aw, So Sad! review: A queer saxophonist’s unfiltered exploration of life in Mumbai

“For instance, my 10-year old child accepts my queerness and my queer and trans friends. But, sometimes he may verbalise it differently. Regarding the Madras HC judgement, let us remember that marriage equality, though complex, can help queer persons wanting to legalise their romantic relationships. However, marriage equality must consider the diverse socio-cultural identities present in India — we queer persons cannot have rights while denying the rights of other marginalised persons.”

Queer affirmative judgments

Speaking to The Federal, Sal, former convenor, Queer Alliance, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, and assistant professor, Family Law, India International University of Legal Education and Research, Goa, said: “Some of these recent HC judgements are very sensitive towards the queer and trans community. Hearteningly, the Madras HC judgement on queer relationships quotes the Supriyo petition on marriage equality. Decentralising judicial activism is vital; so these queer affirmative judgements originating in HCs are commendable.”

Also read: Queer precarity: How urban, educated LGBT+ navigate homophobia at workplace

Although the petitioners did not seek gender inclusivity, the judge granted it to them in the Kerala HC judgement, allowing trans persons to be identified as ”parents” instead of “mother” or “father“ in the birth certificate of their child.

Of course, the judge could have asked the petitioners how they wanted to be identified. Nowadays, birth certificates are identification documents for children, especially when they lack other documents. They are also vital for neonatal and infant healthcare, pre-school/school enrolment.

In the Andhra Pradesh HC judgment, perhaps, the court could have summoned the parents of the trans woman, her husband and his parents to understand if dowry was exchanged and why the husband abandoned her, rather than dismissing it for lacking evidence, Sal said.

Reactionary verdicts?

Nandhini, a trans woman and data scientist from southern Tamil Nadu, remarked, “May and June 2025 saw multiple judgments from the HCs in the southern states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, concerning queer and trans persons.

Also read: Same-sex marriage verdict: Why the system will always be a queer heartbreaker

"When I contrast these judgments with those of the Supreme Court, I wonder if any HC judge who passed the recent verdicts ever considered the history and gaps in even acknowledging our existence and discussed them in their judgments.

"Or are they being reactionary because the Supreme Court ignored a minority group when it dismissed the marriage equality petitions by and for queer persons?"

Gaps in law

Nandhini argued that for the queer community, there has been a huge gap in what the law understands, versus the lived experiences of queer persons.

While exploring her gender, from her personal transition journey and its interaction with her life, she is convinced that the gaps in the law are founded in very misguided assumptions about the binary, discrete nature of gender and sexuality, she added.

”We may actually need a reimagining of many laws, using the updated scientific understanding of biological and psychosocial realities. Queer rights and their ignorance, present in our legal departments, are a simple extension or side-effect of this underlying mismatch with reality," she told The Federal.