Indian child rights activist claims same-sex marriage denies kids one parent's love

As India debates whether same-sex marriage should be allowed legally, a child rights activist has come out against the move, and has said that such marriages will infringe upon the rights of the children and would deprive them of "at least one parent."

Talking to IANS, Kumar V Jahgirdar, founder and president of the Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP) told IANS that "It is natural for any child to have a natural father and mother," and that with the proposed law India is "heading to the creation of a fatherless or motherless society."

He said that in a same-sex marriage, one person will be 'acting' as though they are "a father or mother respectively," but that in fact a child "raised by a same-sex couple is deprived of at least one parent."

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He labelled this "a human rights violation that the same-sex marriage movement will never address."

As per Jahgirdar, "this will have a devastating effect on the psychology of the child and is also a violation of child rights as per a UN convention to have two different genders as parents. It is set to become a fashion to speak about LGBTQ rights and nobody is bothered about child rights. The child rights and same sex rights can't go in the same boat."

"I hope the apex court takes this seriously and does not hamper child fundamental rights," he added.

The child rights activist also predicted that "children in same-sex marriage may feel a stigma that may end in drugs or school dropouts or land up in jail as a teenager."

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He further said that if same-sex marriages are awarded a legal status, the "law will be unconstitutional and is not only against Indian social and cultural values but also in violation of basic human rights."

Jahgirdar claimed that the legalisation of same-sex marriages will further add confusion to the Domestic Violence Act that "is meant to protect women against men."

He also said that if the law is passed, rules regarding the custody of the child post-separation or divorce of the parents must be laid out. The custody of children and shared parenting in cases of separation must be ensured, he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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