A talk on the threshold of empowerment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in India was held at Oxford Bookstore on May 28.
Although the law has been amended, they are still struggling to change the mindset of the people.
This will take a long time, but what are the common myths that they need to fight for a society with absolutely no gender discrimination? How do we accept people for what they are and respect their preferences? Human rights lawyer, Shashi Bhushan, activist, Amitava Sarkar and queer feminist activist, Ritambhara shared their views on the subject and discussed the society at large.
Sarkar is associated with trans activism since 2000. Being born and brought up in Kolkata, she has been involved with various capacity building initiatives for a long time mainly for transgender and marginalised communities through individual at <g data-gr-id="25">organisational</g> level. She had made two films on trans issues, which have been appreciated at many seminars and conferences.
A human rights lawyer, working for the LGBTQ community for the past decade, Bhushan provided his services to the Naz Foundation, supporting sexual minorities and members of the transgender community. Bhushan has also delivered lectures and conducted workshops on LGBTQ issues including repealing section 377 of IPC across India.
Ritambhara is a queer feminist activist based in New Delhi. She is a member of <g data-gr-id="28">Nazariya</g>: A Queer Feminist Resource group and <g data-gr-id="29">Qashti</g> (a community based collective for LBT and Gender Queer people who have been assigned female at birth).