Hindu Marriage Act: Why is #NoHomoVivah and #HinduSherTusharMehta trending?

Twitter is once again outraged. This time, the topic of debate is homosexuality, or more specifically, the legalisation of same sex marriages. You see, earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court had heard a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to recognise same-sex marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act.

And while the matter was eventually shelved with the HC asking the petitioner to bring on record a list of persons aggrieved by the denial of registration of same-sex marriages, what caught the eye of many was Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's comments.

Expressing his personal legal opinion, Mehta said, "such marriages are contrary to the statutory provision, our society, our values do not recognise marriage between two people of same-sex".

While some had contended that the Hindu Marriage Act was gender neutral, this does not seem to be the case. Section 5 (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act makes a distinction based on gender, nothing that at the time of marriage, the "bridegroom" must be 21 while the "bride" has to be at least 18.

And this topic was enough for a tweet war.

#NoHomoVivah and #HinduSherTusharMehta was soon trending on Twitter as countless individuals decided to weigh in on the issue. Now, to be fair, the hashtag usage is confusing as many of those who support same-sex marriages are using it to register their protest, even as others use it in their coming out posts.

But overall, there seem to be two groups on Twitter. Those who believe that same sex relationships as a whole are "immoral" or "against their religion" and those who see nothing wrong with letting people marry whoever they want. And soon, there was a virtual war of words flying on the micro-blogging site.

Later, #YesHomoVivah also made it onto the trending list as many vocalised their support for same-sex marriage. As the tweets gained momentum, many others seemingly from across the world have also tweeted out their support.

Take a look:

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