While India waits for the Supreme Court’s verdict on legalising same-sex marriage, an LGBTQ couple’s recent wedding in the northern state of Punjab has made headlines - and also created controversy.

Dimple, 27 - who uses the pronoun he - and Manisha, 21, married in Bathinda city on 18 September with the blessings of their families - something that’s highly unusual in a conservative country like India.

The wedding has been criticised by some religious leaders, including Sikhism’s highest priest Giani Raghbir Singh who declared that “same-sex marriage was unnatural and contrary to Sikh ethics”.

Dimple, an upper-caste Jatt Sikh, and Manisha, a Dalit Hindu, met at a garment factory in Zirakpur, a town near Punjab’s capital Chandigarh, where they both worked.

Dimple, who mostly dresses in a shirt and trousers and keeps his hair short, says when he told his parents that he had no interest in boys, they understood and “extended their support, expressing joy in his happiness”.

So at the moment, a same-sex marriage is not legal in India which means that Dimple and Manisha cannot access rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples, but at the same time, experts say it is not considered a felony.

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