“Familial relationships may take the form of domestic, unm-arried partnerships or que-er relationships. A household may be a single-parent one for any number of rea-sons, including the death of a spouse, separation, or divorce... Such atypical manifestations of the family unit are equ-ally deserving, not only of protection under law, but also of the benefits available under social welfare legislation. The black letter of the law must not be relied upon to disadvantage families that are different from the traditional ones. The same und-ou-btedly holds true for women who take on the role of motherhood in ways that may not find place in the popular imaginat-ion,” Supreme Court justices D.Y. Chandra-c-hud and A.S. Bopanna maintained in Aug--ust, while disposing an appeal filed by a gov-ernment nurse, who was denied mat-e-r-nity leave because her spouse had two children from an earlier marriage.

Their remarks have now thrown open the definition of familial relationships to incorporate unmarried partnerships and queer relationships.

Outlook takes stock of significant rulings and legislations in recent times that spe-c-i-f-i-cally deal with women’s rights in the cou--n-try. Our forthcoming issue will put the spo-tlight on judicial and legislative develo-pments that impact the LGBTQIA+ community.

(This appeared in the print edition as "Woman at Point Zero")