A powerful Hindu leader supports same-sex unions in India

A few days before the government is scheduled to reply to the Supreme Court about petitions to legalise same-sex marriage, the head of a Hindu organisation that is the parent organisation of India’s ruling party has come out in favour of the homosexual and transgender communities.

When India lifted a colonial-era ban on gay sex in 2018, it decriminalised homosexuality. However, the issue is still taboo in this 1.4 billion-person, socially conservative nation.

The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has previously opposed legalising same-sex unions.

The strong Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the brainchild of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, made certain remarks recently that could prompt the government to reevaluate its stance, according to a junior minister