Social bodies hold meet to sensitize police force about LGBT issues

Nagpur: Acceptance by the society of transgenders continues to be a dream as the community faces harassment, unlawful penalties and sexual abuse. Therefore, as part of social responsibility to end discrimination of LGBT community, volunteers of two organizations and police officials gathered at a city hotel on Saturday to sensitize people about their plight and bring about a change in their perception.
The programme was organized by Voluntary Health Service (VHS), Chennai, and Sarathi Trust in which officials from Sitabuldi, Dhantoli and Mankapur police stations participated.
Talking to TOI, Vidya Kamble vented her ire over the way transgenders are treated in daily life and the humiliation they are subjected to at police stations. “I still remember the incidents that usually happen at police stations. Such is the irony that our complaints are repeatedly ignored and nobody takes us seriously. We as a community thought that the people’s attitude towards us will change after the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment on April 15, 2014 in National Legal Services Authority vs Union of India (NALSA) case about the fundamental and civil rights of transgenders. But nothing seems to have changed at the ground level.”
Kamble however admitted that there are incidents when the community members committed mistakes. “We come across many reports of misbehaviour of transgenders community. But it is the result of the treatment we got from childhood. We live away from our family and have financial issues which at times makes us aggressive,” she added.
Anand Chandrani, president of Sarathi Trust said, “Nagpur is moving forward in many ways, but lagging behind as far as this particular section of the society is concerned. Being a gay, I am part of the same community and therefore it hurts when people treat you as if you have done something wrong. People call transgender a ‘chhakka’ which is very rude and abusive in tone,” he added.
Vijay Rathore, a police official, said that this open discussion has shed light on the problem they also face while dealing with LGBT community. It is necessary to conduct such programmes for police as it will improve their understanding of the community’s problems, legal issues and challenges they face, he added.