Recognition of same-sex unions in Tamil Nadu

Marriage in India is governed under several federal laws. These laws allow for the solemnisation of marriages according to different religions. Every citizen has the right to choose which law will apply to them based on their community or religion. These laws are the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA),[1] which governs matters of marriage, separation and divorce for Hindus according to Hindu custom and rites, the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872,[2] which regulates the marriage and divorce of Christians, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937,[3] for matters concerning the marriage, succession and inheritance of Muslims, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936,[4] concerning the marriage and divorce of Parsis, the Anand Marriage Act, 1909,[5] concerning the marriage of Sikhs, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA).[lower-alpha 1] The SMA allows all Indian citizens to marry regardless of the religion of either party. Marriages contracted under the SMA are registered with the state as a civil contract. The Act applies to partners of all religions or with no religious beliefs as well as to interfaith couples.[7] None of these acts explicitly bans same-sex marriage.

On 14 February 2006, the Supreme Court of India ruled in Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar that the states and union territories are obliged to register all marriages performed under the federal laws. The court's ruling was expected to reduce instances of child marriages, bigamy, cases of domestic violence and unlawful abandonment.[8] Subsequently, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed the Tamil Nadu Registration of Marriages Act, 2009, which was signed into law by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala in August 2009. The Act provides for the registration of all marriages "performed on and from the date of commencement of this Act". It created a Registrar of Marriages, which shall issue a marriage certificate upon reception of a memorandum of marriage filed by the spouses. The Registrar may refuse to issue the license if the parties fail to meet the requirements to marry under the national law of their religion or community. The Act defines marriage as "all marriages performed by persons belonging to any caste or religion under any law for the time being in force, or as per any custom or usage in any form or manner and also includes remarriage".[9]

On 22 April 2019, the Madras High Court ruled in Arunkumar v. The Inspector General of Registration that transgender women may marry under the HMA.[10] The court ordered the state government to register the marriage of a man and a transgender woman, Shri Arunkumar and Ms. Srija, which had been performed in October 2018 in Thoothukudi in accordance with Hindu custom. The couple were issued a marriage certificate following the court ruling in May 2019.[11][12][13] Following their marriage ceremony in October, the Registrar of Marriages had refused to certify the marriage and issue a license, arguing that the couple could not marry under the HMA and that the dictionary definition of bride excluded transgender women. The court ruled that the refusal to register the marriage discriminated on the basis of gender identity in violation of the Supreme Court's ruling in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India.[14] The court also discussed the story of Aravan in its ruling.[15]

A Tamil woman, Subiksha Subramani, married her Bangladeshi partner Tina Das in a traditional Tamil wedding ceremony in Chennai in September 2022. The marriage has no legal status in India, but Subramani said, "It was everything we dreamt of but never thought was possible. After years of soldering thorough and braving the taunts we are happy today that our loved ones are standing with us, cheering for us and performing every ritual according to our respective customs."[16] The officiant who performed the ceremony said he had already performed several ceremonies for same-sex couples. A same-sex couple were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony near Salem in July 2022.[17]