Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of India's Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which is the ideological mentor of the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi, has expressed support for the gay and transgender community, days before the government is due to respond to the apex court over petitions to legalise same-sex marriage.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat (Photo by SANJAY KANOJIA/AFP via Getty Images)
On January 6, the Supreme Court of India asked the Modi government to clear its stance on same-sex marriage in the country by February 15.
Speaking to a RSS-backed publication released recently, Bhagwat said the LGBT community "should have their own private and social space as they are humans and have the right to live as others".
Citing Hindu scriptures and mythology as the basis of his support for the communities, the RSS chief added, "Without much hullabaloo, we have found a way with a humane approach to provide them social acceptance."
Set up in 2025, the RSS is estimated to have millions of active members across India and overseas.
The organisation was also behind Modi's rise to power.
India decriminalised homosexuality in 2018 when it scrapped a colonial-era ban on gay sex, but the subject remains a taboo topic in the country of 1.4 billion people.
The Modi government has refused to legalise same-sex marriage in the past.
This photograph taken on April 28, 2026 shows a boy getting "thali", a sacred thread tied to his neck symbolising marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom.Getty Images
This photograph taken on April 29, 2026 shows a member of the transgender community mourning as a priest cuts the "thali", a sacred thread symbolising end of her marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom. Getty Images