Earlier this week, a doctor at AIIMS killed herself when she found out her husband was gay. In the past six months, two young men, one woman and one transgender woman have committed suicide in the city. Questions were raised in these cases, but what no one knew was that both men had been gay and the woman lesbian.
In most cases, activists in the city say, such suicides are attributed to work pressure or stress. One of them, an IT professional had been facing immense pressure from his family to get married.
“There’s an invisible epidemic of depression and suicidal tendencies among the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) youth,” says Sriram, a volunteer with Orinam, an LGBT collective. Orinam has come across close to 20 suicides in Tamil Nadu in its 11 years of existence, he says.
While there are not many studies in India on depression in the LGBT community, a 2012 study of men who have sex with men, conducted in Chennai and Kumbakonam, showed that a majority of the participants reported moderate to severe depression scores. The contributing factors are: lack of acceptance by family and society, fear of prosecution under laws such as Section 377 and the perception of queerness as a disease to be ‘cured’.
“The confusion begins at adolescence,” says T.D. Sivakumar, a founder of Nirangal, an organisation that works on LGBT rights. “The notion that being homosexual is wrong is all around us. So teenagers begin to think there is something wrong with them. When they are older, they begin to read and learn more. But often, this leads to a breach with the family – they either leave or hide their sexuality, both of which can cause problems,” he says.
Even if the family is accepting, things are not easy. Finding a job where you can be yourself, the stigma, bullying and violence that is faced by queer people can all have a debilitating effect on their mental health – blog posts by queer men and women often talk about these issues.
“In your twenties, it gets more difficult – either there is pressure from the family to get married, or you may be looking for a partner but unable to find one. A break-up too, can lead to depression – there is no one you can talk to and no form of social support offered,” says C. Moulee, a volunteer with Orinam.
Finding help can be tough. While cities like Chennai have some groups and counselling services, in rural areas, there is next to nothing. Thaddeus Alfonso, a mental health professional, says ‘conversion therapy’ – an attempt to make queer people straight — still exists.
He added that the prevalence of minor mental illnesses was higher in the LGBT community not because they were more prone to anxiety or depression but because of they were pushed into it because of a lack of social protection. “Many live with constant anxiety that jeopardises their productivity,” he says.
What is needed, activists say, is a change on several fronts: at home, at educational institutions and the workplace. Acceptance will probably be followed by support.
Major reasons are non-acceptance by family, society, fear of prosecution and view of queerness as a disease to be ‘cured’
Rural areas, especially, have few counselling services
