India’s top court has declined to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages, drawing criticism from LGBTQ rights activists, who dubbed the verdict “regressive”. “The court has failed its duty to uphold the constitutional rights of the people of India not to be discriminated on the basis of their sexuality,” Pyoli Swatija, a lawyer at the Supreme Court, told Al Jazeera. The story has made front-page headlines in the socially conservative country – the world’s most populous – over the past year, sparking furious debates online. India’s LGBTQ community has long felt like second-class citizens, facing opprobrium from the government, religious leaders and conservative elements of society.