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Abstract

This review engages with Rehan Abeyratne's book Courts and LGBTQ+ Rights in an Age of Judicial Retrenchment, which examines judicial responses to LGBTQ+ claims over the past two decades across three jurisdictions — the United States, India, and Hong Kong. Abeyratne argues that the apex courts in these countries have grown more inward-looking and have enabled the rise of illiberal and authoritarian forces; however, LGBTQ+ rights have emerged as an exceptional site where these courts continue to extend minimal remedies and adopt a tone of empathy, positioning themselves as the last bastion of liberal constitutionalism. Focusing on recent developments in India, this review engages with Abeyratne by making three arguments: First, it contends that the Supreme Court of India's turn away from foreign and comparative sources is not a neutral move. It mirrors the government's Atmanirbhar (self-reliance) philosophy and treats progressive understandings of gender and sexuality as foreign impositions. Second, it locates the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026 within this wider regression, showing how appeals to cultural distinctiveness accompany an exclusionary approach to trans rights. Third, it offers a caveat that the Indian position is marked by divergence across judicial fora, with subordinate courts such as the Kerala and Madras High Courts adopting more trans-affirming and global positions than the apex court. Together, these arguments complicate Abeyratne's characterisation of LGBTQ+ rights as a judicial 'bright spot' within a broader story of liberal decline. The inward turn Abeyratne identifies is shown to be neither neutral nor confined to the apex court's rhetoric, while the counter-currents in the High Courts suggest that the resilience of LGBTQ+ rights adjudication lies elsewhere in India than where the book locates it.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.55496/JIZN7732

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