Representatives demand transgenders be recorded in National Census 2011

For P. Selvi, a sports physician, it was a call for celebration of identities. For French-national Maysoun, it was an opportunity to express solidarity. For the nearly-500 participants of the Chennai Rainbow Pride march here on Sunday, it was about proclaiming the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT).

“Last year, we took part in the rally to protest discrimination against LGBT. This year, the rally has an air of happiness and celebration. This shows growing recognition for us in the society,” says Neela, a transcriptionist.

Johnson, a French-interpreter who participated along with a group of French nationals, says the rally “was a reminder to people who discriminate sexual minorities.”

“We need to be accepted as we are in the society. Our identity is precious to us,” a participant from Madurai said.

“For people like us, every day is a struggle. Social discrimination is so high that we never got back to our families who disowned us,” said a transgender participant from Puducherry. Ten of her friends joined the rally to support the cause.

K. Radhika, a college student who participated, said the change in the attitude of people was perceptible. “But it is inhuman to mock at alternative sexualities. Everyone's identity is different and defined. One should learn to respect that,” she said, briskly waving her rainbow flag.

The rally was a culmination of a series of events organised as part of the second annual Rainbow Pride Month. The events including debates on homosexuality and family values, LGBT performance festival, poetry reading, meeting of parents of LGBT, placard and beauty contests, and film screenings were hosted by the Chennai Rainbow Alliance, a collective of organisations working on common issues of the LGBT segment.

The rally attracted a diverse group of participants, said Aniruddhan Vasudevan, director, Shakthi Resource Centre, one of the organisations part of the Chennai Rainbow Alliance. “It is an event to celebrate people as they are and respect their identities.”

The representatives in the rally demanded that transgenders be recorded in the National Census 2011 in the category corresponding to the gender of their choice and not limited by the limited binary choices of “male” and “female”. They condemned unscientific and unethical attempts by some mental health professionals to change sexual orientation through drugs and other means. They urged families of LGBT individuals to value their desires as natural and not force them into heterosexual marriages.

The rally began at Triumph of Labour statue and culminated near Light House.

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