India’s Supreme Court has failed to legalise same-s3x marriage, saying it does not have the power to do so.
The court instead accepted the government’s offer to set up a panel to consider granting social and legal rights and benefits to same-s3x couples.
The court had heard 21 petitions in April and May from same-s3x couples and activists who said that not being able to marry makes them “second-class citizens”.
The ruling will dash the hopes of India’s LGBTQ+ population, believed to number in the tens of millions.
The government and religious leaders had strongly opposed same-s3x unions, saying they were against Indian culture.