Kerala LGBT Couple Move Court To Get Their Marriage Registered Under Transgender Identities

On February 14 when the world marks Valentine's Day, Manu Karthika and Syama S Prabha will start their new journey in life as a couple.

The duo is set to tie the knot on Monday, in a traditional Hindu ceremony with the blessings of their family.

Manu is a transman from Thrissur and Syama is a trans woman from Thiruvananthapuram.

Manu Karthika and Syama S Prabha

The couple also wants to make their wedding the first in the state to be registered under the special marriage act as a marriage between two transgenders.

According to Manu, who works in human resources at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, though other transgenders have married in the past in Kerala, the marriages were registered under gender binary (as male or female) and not under their respective gender identities.

Why they moved HC

They have now moved the Kerala High Court seeking to register their wedding as a marriage between two transsexual people.

"We're planning to approach Kerala HC to register our marriage under transgender identity, instead of the gender binary (male-female) under Special Marriage Act. Transgender couples who obtain their id cards as male and female get their marriages registered under the Special Marriage Act. But we got ourselves identified as transgender in our ids, so we're not able to register our marriage under the Act, which is why we'll approach Court," Manu said.

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The couple said that as per the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, and Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 they have the right to get married as transgender individuals.

They also felt that if they can get their marriage registered as transgenders, it will inspire many more people in the community.

Syama is a state project officer at the transgender cell under the Kerala Social Justice Department.

She is also a well-known transgender activist in Kerala and is currently pursuing her P.hD from Kerala University.

While they have the support and blessings of their families now, it was not the case always.

Manu Karthika and Syama S Prabha

Like most transgenders, coming out was a struggle for them in the initial days.

According to Manu, his mother was the only person who supported him and the only advice she gave him was to study hard and work hard so that society wouldn't look down on him.

The duo met through the transgender community in 2017 before they had their gender reassignment surgeries.

Both of them then waited for the families to come together and get secured jobs before they finally decided to get married.

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