Draft:Recognition of homosexual relationships in Hinduism

Hindu India discusses the recognition of homosexual relationships several times in various texts.

The Nāradasmṛti and the Sushruta Samhita, two important Hindu texts relating to dharma and medicine, respectively, declare homosexuality to be unchangeable and forbid homosexuals from marrying a partner of the opposite sex. The Kama Sutra discusses the situation swarinis in the chapter of purushayita. These were lesbians who often married other women and raised children together.

Gandharva marriage
A homosexual union of love or lust may fall under "Gandharvavivaha" which refers to marriage on the basis of pure love and/or sexual relations (rather than with the blessing/arrangement of parents). A Gandharava marriage was the most common form of marriage for lay people described in classical Indian literature and was heavily associated with village life. A Gandharava was a low ranking male deity who had a symbolic association with fine and creative arts, specifically music, with strong connections to sexuality and procreation, and the term is etymologically linked to "fragrance", and these males are commonly pared with females called "Apsaras" who are associated with the arts, dancing and literature.

Status of homosexual relationships in India
India provides some legal recognition of homosexual partnerships as live-in relationships in a family unit. It does not provide for legal marriages, common law marriages, guardianship, civil unions, or issue partnership certificates. There are number of companies that provide services to homosexuals in live-in relationships such as financial services and healthcare services.

Several same-sex couples have married in Hindu ceremonies, however, these marriages were not able to be registered and couples do not attain all the same rights and benefits as heterosexual married couples. Reactions have ranged from support to disapproval to violent persecution. In 1987, a lesbian couple were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Madhya Pradesh by a Brahmin priest. The Inspector General of Police discharged them after learning about the marriage, and the couple was kept in isolation and not provided food for 48 hours. They were subjected to a "medical examination", and later left at the railway station in the middle of the night and warned against returning to the barracks. In 2010, academic Ruth Vanita reported that many of these couples were "non-English-speaking young women from lower-income groups", and "[not] connected to any movement for equality; most of them were not aware of terms like "gay" or "lesbian". Many of them framed their desire to marry in terms drawn from traditional understandings of love and marriage, saying, for example, that they could not conceive of life without each other, and wanted to live and die together." Some couples, however, have married in accordance with traditional Hindu wedding customs with support from their family and community.