Students set to form LGBTQIA+ community club in Manipal

Manipal: Due to the fear of being discriminated, students from the LGBTQIA+ community often try to hide their identity in front of other students and faculty members on most Indian campuses. They often end up facing passive queer-phobia.
With classes likely to begin soon, in an attempt to break the stigma, and help the community, students from the Manipal Institute of Technology are all set to launch the LGBTQIA+ club.The club-kaleidoscope will work on the mental and physical well-being of the community.
Adhar Sharma, a third-year engineering student, who has taken the lead to bring students together on this initiative, said, “ While the rigts of the LGBTQIA+ are being gradually being recognised around the world and in India, at Manipal we have not made strides towards recognising the community or creating an environment so that people are comfortable. The idea of the club and community is to normalise the LGBTQIA+ community, and get rid of misinformation, and bring the facts to the people. On a larger scale, it is about building a community and getting people who identify as LGBTQIA+, and help them overcome stigma, mental trauma and challenges that they face,” he said.
This is being pursued by other universities in India as well. “We have spoken to professors, and many in the campus felt that it was high time that we had a club. We have received nearly 80 submissions from students willing to join the club. During our interactions, students have told us how there has not been much acceptance of the idea, and they face stigma at home, as their parents are not accepting them. There are students who have not been able to express themselves, and when we speak to them, they break down and speak about the challenges they have faced. We have a lot of students who identify within the LGBTQIA+, and we also have students who support the movement,” said Adhar.
He said that they had approached the director, student affairs, MIT, Manipal, who has forwarded the request to the head of clubs at MIT. “We have been assured that we will be granted permission,” he said. MIT officials were not available for comment.