Gender Justice and the Indian Constitution: Legal Recognition and Rights of the LGBTQ+ Community

The Indian Constitution provides equality before law and right to life with dignity. However, for a decades, the LGBTQ+ community in India has historically faced systematic marginalization and legal invisibility. Justice is the sole of Indian Constitution but for the LGBTQ+ community, this justice has been long delayed. This paper seeks to understand the legal trajectory of gender justice through the lens of queer rights. It explores how courts have interpreted fundamental rights expansively to affirm LGBTQ+ dignity and autonomy particularly post 2014. It traces the trajectory of judicial interpretation from criminalization under section 377 IPC to its eventual reading down and further explores how courts have read Article 14, 15, 19 and 21 expensively to affirm LGBTQ+ rights. It concludes that while the judiciary has played a crucial role in legal recognition, the path toward gender justice requires deeper engagement from the legislature, Civil society and educational institution.