Hyderabad

Abhay Dange (34) and Supriyo Chakraborty (31) exchanged rings and vow at a private ceremony held at a resort on the outskirts of Hyderabad on December 18. The wedding, attended by 60 family members and close friends of the couple, was officiated by Sophia David, a trans woman from Hyderabad.

As same-sex marriages are not legally recognized in India, Supriyo and Abhay held a "promising ceremony' to make their eight-year-long relationship official.

Abhay, a Punjabi, is an IT professional who works for an e-commerce firm while Supriyo, a Bengali, is a hospitality professional.

The ceremony was held with the Bengali and Punjabi traditions.  'Haldi', 'Mehendi' and 'sangeet' were held as part of the wedding celebrations which were also attended by members of the LGBT community in Hyderabad.

The duo, who met through a dating app, announced their wedding in October. Tollywood actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu had supported gay marriage and took to Twitter to congratulate the couple.

According to Supriyo, their parents were not initially supportive but later accepted their relationship.

Supriyo and Abhay feel that their wedding will give hope to many closet couples to come out and normalize LGBTQ relationships. They also hope that the way the same-gender relationship was decriminalized in India, the marriage of queer couples will also be legalized. They plan to register their marriage once queer couples are legally allowed to marry.

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