Justice N. Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court is ensuring that the Union government, State government as well as allied entities put in place the systems required to ensure a dignified life for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and others (LGBTQIA+) community.
As a result of a series of interim orders issued by the judge ever since advocate S. Manuraj brought a case of a same sex couple before him in March last year, the State government on Friday assured the court that a policy for protection of the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community would be notified in three months.
The government informed the court that the State Planning Commission had presented a draft policy for LGBTQIA+ before Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on October 27. Subsequently, the policy was forwarded to the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment department on November 15 for further action.
The Director of Social Welfare conducted a virtual meeting with all stakeholders on the subject on December 1 and submitted a report to the government on December 6. Since public comments had to be invited and considered before finalising the policy, the government urged the court to grant three months time.
In so far as the statutory rules to be framed under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 were concerned, the judge was informed that the process of publishing the draft rules in the gazette and inviting suggestions had been completed and that the rules would be notified by the end of this month.
Fully satisfied with the action taken by the State government, the judge recorded his appreciation. “In the considered view of this court, the Tamil Nadu government is taking sincere efforts to address the issues faced by the LGBTQIA+ community at large and the same is evident from various steps taken by the government,” he wrote.
In the meantime, the Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC), represented by advocate G. Sankaran, informed the court of having warned the medical practitioners in the State against any attempt/intervention to change the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of a person which was commonly referred to as “Conversion Therapy”.
Following previous orders passed by the judge, the National Medical Council had declared the practice of ‘conversion therapy’ to be a professional misconduct under the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations of 2002. Therefore, TNMC had taken consequent action and issued the warning.
The judge was also told school teachers and students were being sensitised about the LGBTQIA+ community and psychological counselling was also being provided wherever necessary. Establishment of gender neutral restrooms and appropriate columns in application forms for the community were on the anvil.
The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment apprised the court of the steps being taken to enlist non governmental organisations (NGOs) working for the welfare of the LGBTQIA+ community. The judge ordered wide publicity to the ongoing enlistment and said that all NGOs should get enrolled within two months.
He adjourned further hearing on the case to January 23, 2023 for taking note of further developments and passing necessary orders.
