CHENNAI:There is no dearth of optimism in G Sankari’s words when she says that a big change, led by LGBT community members, is coming and that it would improve the quality of life in the nation.
Sankari, who is one of the founder-director of the NGO Nirangal, which works for LGBT welfare in the State, was making a gender-sensitisation presentation before an audience comprising teenagers and students in the city, on Tuesday. “Homosexuality is not a disorder. A man feeling in love with another man and a woman experiencing sexual attraction towards another woman has been happening since the first of humans evolved into being,” she said.
She added that it was a lack of understanding, which was the reason behind society’s non-acceptance of transgenders. “When they understand that what we are is nothing abnormal, they are totally fine with us,” she told City Express. Sensitising the youth will go a long way towards achieving the goal because students make tomorrow’s society, she added. “They are the torch-bearers of a better tomorrow. They will be policymakers and fellow citizens of a powerful India. If through such sensitisation programmes at least one person takes home the message spoken here, tomorrow that person will educate another,” Sankari said.
“Those two will tell many others and thus the chain will go on. So, there is still optimism in our community that all this would one day bring about a better future for us,” she added.
When the Supreme Court in 2013 reversed the Delhi High Court ruling de-criminalising homosexual relationships, it was a big blow to their activities. “After the Supreme Court judgment, we have come across several instances where parents of transgender or homosexual children forcefully entered them into a heterosexual alliance,” she said.
“What the parents fail to understand here is that when heterosexual couples, who fall in love and then marry can later develop problems and split, they are pushing their child into an unhappy alliance where they will lead a tormented life until their last breath. Do they really want that to happen?” she asked.
Regarding trouble from law enforcement authorities, Sankari said that of late, the police were booking transgenderss in theft and mischief cases.
“Earlier the police used to book only prostitution cases and we could somehow rehabilitate our victimised community members. With theft cases being foisted against transgenders, they are once again vulnerable,” she said.
But optimism prevails. “Tiruchi Siva’s Bill has opened more avenues for us to land decent jobs. With employment, I believe there will be empowerment,” she added.