The Supreme Court of United States has delivered one of the world's most iconic judgement in recent times. By legalising gay marriage in all the 50 states of the country, US joins 17 other countries, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Uruguay, that have provided legal sanctity to same-sex marriages. The world is celebrating and so is our nation. Equal rights advocates in India are rejoicing. The 'optimists' are expecting that the historic judgement in US is bound to have a favourable impact in our country. But is it really a matter of celebration in a country like India? Before going all ga-ga over US Supreme Court's judgement, here are some very crucial aspects which need to be looked into very seriously. White House is illuminated in rainbow colours after the historic Supreme Court ruling legalising gay marriage | Source: Reuters

The 'anti religion' argument

Religious leaders, all across the country, have collectively and consistently opposed homosexuality and same-sex marriages. Hindu leaders have criticised it for being a 'western influence' while Muslim and Christian leaders have expressed that homosexuality is 'sinful' and 'against' their scriptures. Some interesting lines from an article published in the Daily News and Analysis in December 2013 read, "The univocal unity of religious leaders in expressing their homophobic attitude. Usually divisive and almost always seen tearing down each other’s religious beliefs, leaders across sections came forward in decrying homosexuality and expressing their solidarity with the judgment."

Let us not forget Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's 'high quality' assurance which guaranteed a cure for homosexuality using 'his' yoga and ayurveda techniques.

A file photo of an anti gay protest | Source : IB Times

Intolerance towards freedom of choices

Despite being the land of Kamasutra, the Indian society always had serious issues with extremely personal matters such as love, sexuality and marriages. And the root cause of all these problems is nothing but intolerance towards the choices of others. It is too hard for us to respect and accept the personal choices of others. Couples holding hands in public are hounded. An individual's decision to marry or to not marry is taken by family and relatives. A community justifies the killing of lovers who plan to marry outside their gotra. A Hindu-Muslim marriage is viewed with suspicion and is termed as Love Jihad.

Sadly, this is the society we live in.

A file photo of an LGBT parade | Source : groovy ganges

Although, there have been various strong voices among writers, artists, lawyers, film stars and social activists which have endorsed gay rights, homosexuality is still a taboo.

Participating in LGBT parades and queer fests, tweeting about the Court judgement, updating the rainbow-coloured profile picture on Facebook and all such similar efforts may seem cool. But they won't really make a difference.