Mumbai: An apex body of psychiatrists in India has said members of the LGBTQA community should be treated like all citizens of the country and have access to marriage, adoption, education, employment, property rights and healthcare. There is no evidence to indicate that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and asexual (LGBTQA) individuals cannot partake any of the above, and discrimination which prevents the above may lead to mental health issues, the Guruguram-headquartered Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) said in a statement issued on April 3.
Also Read: Meet K Sheethal Nayak, A Transwoman, Who Quit Engineering To Fight For The Rights Of Transgenders
It said that in 2018, the IPS had supported the decriminalisation of homosexuality and those from the LGBTQA spectrum under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code as well as stated that these are variants of normal sexuality, not deviant and certainly not an illness.
The IPS would like to reiterate that these individuals be treated like all citizens of the country, and once a citizen (they) can enjoy all civil rights like education, employment, housing, income, government or military service, access to healthcare, property rights, marriage, adoption, survivorship benefits, to name a few. There is no evidence to indicate that individuals on the LGBTQA spectrum cannot partake any of the above. On the contrary, discrimination which prevents the above may lead to mental health issues.
The IPS is very cognisant that a child adopted into a same-gendered family may face challenges, stigma and or discrimination along the way. It is imperative that once legalised, such parents of the LGBTQA spectrum bring up the children in gender neutral, unbiased environment, it said.
It is also of utmost importance, that the family, community, school and society in general are sensitised to protect and promote the development of such a child, and prevent stigma and discrimination at any cost, the IPS added.
Also Read: Noori Saleem, A Transgender Mother, Has Created A Home For More Than 300 HIV+ Children
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
