Meet highlights woes of sexual minorities The meet was organised by Sahayathrika at the Kerala Sahithya Akademi
Staff Reporter http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/21/stories/2008092153080300.htm Thrissur: The problems being faced by sexual minorities were highlighted at a convention held here on Saturday that brought together several alternative sexuality groups from South India. The convention, organised by Sahayathrika at Kerala Sahithya Akademi, turned out to be a forum to express the problems as well as creative energies in the form of dance, drama and songs of gays, lesbians, transsexuals and bisexuals. It declared solidarity with Kerala's suffering sexual minorities, who are among the most marginalised in the country. Speakers pointed out that though Kerala had achieved progress on several social fronts, sexual minorities continued to be harassed, tortured and delineated. As a result, many of them, especially transsexuals, were forced to migrate to neighbouring states. "The sexual minorities are not just a marginalised section, their very existence is challenged by society," said M. K. Rajasree, a researcher at the Centre for Development Studies(CDS), Thiruvananthapuram. A CDS study had found that all development interventions by the government, including Kudumbasree, had excluded the sexual minorities. For them, the life is a tumultuous journey towards a reinvented selfhood. "Even our legal system does not tolerate this community. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises homosexuality," said Ponni of Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore. "The fear of being exposed and expelled from the family and society is the first challenge faced by each member of our group," said Sunil Menon from Chennai-based organisation 'Sahodharan'. Regular verbal and physical abuse by the society creates a negative attitude in sexual minorities towards life and affects their self-esteem. Ridiculed by family and friends many were driven to suicide, he said. Even the basic rights of a citizen have been denied to us, said Sanjesh, an activist of the Kozhikode-based 'Firm'. "We are not allowed to walk free on the road or sit at the bus shelter," he says. The writer-activist Civic Chandran accused the first generation of feminists of ignoring the problems of lesbians. Sahayathrika co-founder Deepa, women's rights activist Mini Sukumar and short story writer K.R.Meera spoke at the function. When a gay or lesbian is forced into marriage, the families don't realise how traumatic their marital life would be, said Nasar, from 'Firm', Kozhikode. Their life partners would be unnecessarily trapped in the misery, he said. Playwright, director and actor Preetham Chakraborty performed 'Nirvanam', an exploration of the journey towards becoming a transgender at the convention. 'Nirvanam' refers to the liberation of the female persona from its male body. Various cultural forums including Loveland Arts Society, Kollam, Malabar Cultural Forum, Kozhikode, and Lesbit, Bangalore performed. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
