The Indian government has expressed its vehement opposition to the legalisation of same-sex marriage, calling it an “urban elitist concept” that undermines religious and social values, as the supreme court begins hearings on the rights of LGBTQ people to be married under the law. On Tuesday, dozens of petitions from LGBTQ couples and activists were brought before the country’s highest court as part of a collective lawsuit that is battling for the right of LGBTQ people to be married and have equality under the law. It is the most significant challenge to the gay rights status-quo since 2018 when, in a landmark judgment, the supreme court struck down a colonial era law criminalising homosexuality.