On January 20, Dr Akkai Padmashali, a transwoman and a well-known transgenders' right activist, married her friend and LGBTQI activist, Vasu. While she was flooded with wishes for taking the bold step, the community still feels insecure because irrespective of the recognition of the third gender as a part of the Indian society, sexual minorities in the country are still victimised.
India Top Court To Revisit 2013 Verdict Criminalizing Gay Sex Under Section 377
On November 9, 2016, Tara, a 28-year-old transgender woman who was working as an outreach worker with NGOs like Sahodaran and Sinegathi, was found severely burnt outside the Pondy Bazaar police station in Chennai. Tara, who had suffered 95 per cent burns, was allegedly assaulted by personnel of the same police station on charges of soliciting customers for sex work.
Until the government passes proper laws for the protection of the LGBT community, the sexual minorities in India can never be safe, Anthony Peter Sylvester, an LGBT activist in Bengaluru told International Business Times, India. "The government and society need to work hand-in-hand if they indeed want to make the LGBT community safe," he said.
The idea is echoed by others as well, including Upasana Agarwal, a member of the LGBT community, who along with four other friends transformed an abandoned house in Kolkata into a cafe for the LGBTQ community to meet, greet and eat together. The cafe named Amra Odbhuth, which was inaugurated on January 31, is a one-of-its-kind cafe in not only Kolkata but in the entire country that gives the city's queer community a space for creativity and fun.
"This cafe aims to reach out to people because some of us as queer women remember growing up without any access to place for socialising and not spreading awareness," Agarwal, an LGBT activist herself told IBTimes, India. "But that doesn't mean we feel safe in this society. If they cannot understand us, then they should not disrupt us too." she added.
India today has stories of transgenders making it big in life. The name of Apsara Reddy, a transgender from Chennai who has made her name known worldwide as a journalist, is an example. Even, India's much-popular television serials have chosen to make programmes on them, like for example Shakti -- Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki—a Hindi family drama about a transgender woman which is aired on Colors. But despite these success stories, the LGBT community steel feels themselves to be out of place and the scenario will change little till the government declares Section 377 as constitutional.
