India's first gay marriage — union between an IITian and his partner from Vietnam

Monday January 15, 2018 , 3 min Read

At a time when Supreme Court has agreed to reconsider Section 377 of Indian Penal Code, India's first gay marriage took place in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. It was a union between Hrishi Sathawane, an IIT graduate and his partner from Vietnam, Vinh, who is a teacher by profession.

43-year-old Hrishi, an IIT-Powai graduate, is a green card holder living in California, United States. He met Vinh through an online dating site in 2016. Vinh had migrated to the US from Vietnam in 1990 at the age of eight. The couple got engaged in April 2017 and Hrishi wanted to get married to Vinh in his hometown. Talking about why he wanted it that way, Hrishi told Mumbai Mirror,

I prefer calling it a commitment ceremony and not marriage. For me it's more important that I share vows with Vinh in front of my loved ones.

Hrishi had come out to his parents in 1997. His parents were initially worried that their son being gay would tarnish their respect in the society. However, with Hrishi and his sister's persuasion, they came around and accepted him five years later. What's more, they also took part in the Gay Pride Parade that took place in San Francisco in 2007 to support him.

So when Hrishi told his parents about getting engaged to Vinh, his parents and sister celebrated it with a reception. The couple got married on December 30, 2017, and to Hrishi's surprise, a lot of people attended his wedding and showed their support. Writing about this in a Facebook post, he said,

"Thanks to some of my relatives, school teachers, and other close family friends who came to celebrate this special day with us. Yavatmal is far more progressive than what one would imagine. This was just the tip of ice-burg. A lot many more supportive people could not make it to the function. Many others later mentioned they would have loved to attend but either did not know or did not get the invite. Overall the event was peaceful, and a celebration of two souls coming together to have a wonderful life ahead"

The couple is now back to the US in their home and they look forward to adopting kids as neither of them are inclined to have biological children.

Image Credit - Facebook