A Case for Adoption Rights for LGBTQ Community in India

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) community is the sexual minority of India, which has been unfairly discriminated in legal and social identity since time immemorial. The civil rights of the LGBTQ community like the right to adopt, right to marriage, etc are also not being recognised at par with their heterosexual counterparts. Equal adoption rights are necessary for the LGBTQ community to live a family life with children’s similar to their heterosexual counterpart. However, the adoptions laws of India are discriminatory towards the LGBTQ community and work as an impediment for them in fully exercising their adoption rights. Such discriminatory adoption laws which are based on the binary understanding of gender violates different principles which are enshrined under Article 14, Article 15 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The adoption laws of India are also not in line with the principle of the best interest of the child as they exclude potential prospective adoptive parents from the process of adoption. The researcher in this research paper will critically analyse the LGBTQ right to adopt in India and will try to make a case for equal adoption rights for the LGBTQ Community.