Kerala Transgender Couple Denied Permission To Marry At Temple, Activist Calls It 'Unfortunate Incident'

A transgender couple, Nilan Krishna and Advika, were declined permission to perform the wedding ceremony in the Thiru-Kachamkurissi temple of Palakkad, Kerala. The community in the district has severely criticised the temple administration.

According to their friends, the couple got a wedding invitation printed showing the temple as the venue of the ceremony; later, they were forced to move the function to a nearby hall after the temple authorities refused to permit them.

A temple official stated, "Board chairman and others were here. We then requested that they speak with the higher officials because we lack the authority to decide alone in such a situation. However, they did not appear," reports NDTV.

Temple Authorities Refused To Admit The Charge

The temple officials, who are a part of the Malabar Devaswom Board, refuted the allegation and said that they had just advised the couple to speak with the temple board officials about it and had not denied permission for the ceremony.

The official said, "Not the couple, but someone else related to them came here and notified us of the plan to get married in the temple. We were unaware that the pair belonged to the transgender community at the time." He added that no such marriages had ever taken place in the temple. They generally do not permit love marriages, which take place without the consent of parents and other close relatives, on the premises because such weddings could lead to future legal problems and police investigations.

'Incident Was Unfortunate'

Isha Kishore, a transgender activist, termed the incident unfortunate because the couple's request to get married in the temple area was rejected solely based on their gender.

She said, "Every temple has its own set of laws and ceremonies, and I absolutely agree with that. However, in this instance, they refused permission based on gender. Everyone in this universe, in our opinion, is the Almighty's creation. How, therefore, can the temple administration forbid the couple from entering God's house by referencing their gender?"

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