Karnataka election 2018: Politicians consider us minority within minorities, say LGBTs

BENGALURU: Last October, the Karnataka government made the right headlines when it formally adopted the Karnataka State Policy on Transgenders. But with less than a week to go for elections, trans woman Shilok Mukkati sounds anything but gung-ho about heading out to vote. “I am not voting this time due to a personal situation but frankly, even if I had the option, I’d have stayed away.It’s better to not vote than vote for the wrong person,” says Mukkati, a poet and RJ.
As a trans woman, for Mukkati, choosing a candidate rests on one additional criterion besides factors like honesty and being result-oriented, and that is how ‘LGBTQ-friendly’ the person is. “I know that the current government has done quite a bit to make transgenders visible and get us our rights but the way I see it, it’s mere tokenism. While the Congress party supports us only when they want to get votes, the BJP chooses to ignore us. And how many of these politicians are really interested to know the real issues that affect us,” she asks.

Much like Mukkati, other members from the LGBTQIA+ community view voting as their duty, but there’s a clear smattering of cynicism. “Much like how black women in Alabama helped democratic leader Doug Jones win his seat in the US Senate, there’s a sizeable LGBT community in the state and the country that can swing elections. But politicians don’t take us seriously because they think we are a minority within minorities. Only if they realised that we would come out in droves and vote if they did something for us!’ quips Alex Mathew, who is known for his drag queen act, Mayamma.