The Position of LGBTQIA+ And Third Gender in Personal Laws

Abstract

Despite of landmark verdict of Nalsa’s case (2014) and navtej’s case (2018) which has given the trans-genders and LGBTQIA+ a living life, the position of LGBTQ+ and third gender persons in Indian personal law remains precarious. Landmark cases such as NALSA v. Union of India (2014) and Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018) recognized sexual and gender minori-ties, yet marriage, adoption, inheritance, and succession laws continue to operate on a binary and heteronormative model. Through the review of scholarly works and key case law, this study demarcates the critical gaps between constitutional recognition and family law inclusion. This paper actually shows the exclusion of queer community from the scope of personal laws without any regret. While decisions like Arun kumar v. Inspector General of Registration (2019) signal judicial openness, systemic reforms remain absent. Comparative lessons from Nepal, South Af-rica and Canada reveal the picture of progressiveness and adaptability according to the dyna-mism. The study suggests amending personal laws with gender-neutral language, extending joint adoption rights, recognizing third gender heirs, implementation of Uniform civil code and embedding constitutional morality as the guiding principle of reform. Without restructuring personal laws, decriminalization remains incomplete, and full equality for LGBTQ+ communi-ties in India cannot be realized.