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How far has the LGBTQI community come?
HOW FAR HAS THE LGBTQI COMMUNITY COME?
Most of you may know what these alphabets stands for. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex is the full form of LGBTQI. Part III of the Indian Constitution deals with the fundamental rights and we know that we do enjoy a lot of rights. The preamble of the Indian Constitution mandates social, economic and political justice for all.
Article 14 of the Indian Constitution deals with equality before law - ‘The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.’. Also Article 21 deals with the Protection of life and personal liberty.
In the Indian Penal Code, Section 377 dealt with something called Unnatural offences which meant ‘Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 1[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.’
In a country like ours where Article 14 and 21 exists, Section 377 was denying the rights of the people belonging to the LGBTQI community. Section 377 was against Article 14 and Article 21.
In 2014, in the case NALSA v. Union of India, Supreme court held that transgender people should be legally recognized according to their gender identity, enjoy all fundamental rights and receive special benefits in education and employment. Also in September 2018 Supreme Court decriminalized Section 377. These two decisions were considered as empowering the LGBTQI community.
India is a country with a population of 1.3 billion people. Due to its diversity, the opinion and attitude towards a new community was not as broad minded as the decision. The LGBTQI community have come a long way. But even when the law is with them, people bullies them mercilessly. They find difficulty to get employed because of the attitude of the people towards them. People are behaving rude to them just because they are different from the conventional thinkers. Just because the people belonging to this community strongly stands for their rights they treated in a very bad way.
Considering the positive side, the LGBTQIs can now reveal their identity without fear. Their position is getting better with coming generations. India has even set a LGBTQI hiring consultancy. This was mainly to help them overcome their lack of self-esteem due to the discrimination faced. It had a very good response. The job fair saw a participation of more than 300 LGBTQI candidates for various sector including IT, banking and administration.
Even when Section 377 is decriminalised and transgender people can reveal their identity, LGBTQI community still has a long way to go. Most of our laws, in case of marriage, deals with a man and a woman. So it is yet to find out what will be the government’s decision if a lesbian couple wants to adopt a child. Before that they must see if the court has legalised a same-sex marriage.
