Trigger Warning: Transphobia
LGBTQIA+ rights have always been a point of contention in India. With Section 377 (an act that forbids “sexual acts against the order of nature”) being decriminalized in 2018, the community has been making strides, albeit slowly, towards legal inclusion. While it may be illegal to overtly discriminate against queer people, the community has been the victim of potentially traumatic microaggressions for decades now.
A study entitled ‘The Economic Cost of Stigma and the Exclusion of LGBT People: A Case Study of India’ by Dr. M. V. Lee Badgett shows clear evidence of the negative outcomes of these microaggressions (the impact of which is referred to as ‘minority stress’). The study quotes different surveys of LGBTQ individuals in India where the cases of suicidal individuals are as high as 45% and depression rates went up to 55%. The stigmatization of therapy has also made it impossible for the community to seek help.
Need For Discrimination-Free Health Care
Minority Stress has made the greatest dent in the LGBTQIA+ community when it comes to health care. Fear of stigma and discrimination has kept individuals of the community away from seeking professional medical help.
Abhina Aher, a member of the hijra community spoke about her experience in this article. Aher had her castration done in a dingy room and was asked to leave just 2 hours after the operation as it was illegal. She also added that most of these surgeries are not done by medical professionals and hence, a lot of people die post-surgery.
“Village medics and babas often prescribe rape to cure lesbians of homosexuality. Refusal to marry brings more physical abuse,” says Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, a transwoman and LGBT activist, in a Livemint article.
The article also talks about how practices like ‘corrective’ therapy, where LGBTQIA+ individuals are admitted to psych wards and subjected to physical and mental torture, increase distrust in the medical community.
When Do We Talk About Menstruation?
For the longest time, womanhood has been defined by the ability to menstruate. While it is common knowledge that most people with uteruses bleed, this knowledge is usually limited to cis-women. Trans-men, as well as non-binary people, are rarely spoken about.
“I feel left out. I get my periods too, and people just assume I am a female,” says Robyn, a student from Mumbai who identifies as genderfluid, in an interview with Socialstory.
A little known fact is that trans women can bleed too. This article about sex reassignment surgery for trans women explains how the author encountered post-operative bleeding and had to wear sanitary pads for a few weeks.
“I remember thinking I better savor this experience because it’s a part of a cis girl’s life and I am unlikely to go through it even after I transition successfully,” the author writes.
Access to proper health care plays an integral role in helping menstruators who are not cis-women. Schools segregate students when it comes to sex education and menstruation is often taught only to girls.
Intersectional education is nowhere to be found, so people of other genders, sexualities, and abilities are left out. When these children grow up, they often seek help from medical professionals to fill in the gaps that were not covered in school.
“We have known days when trans communities could not get past the doors of any public healthcare deliveries in India. Security does not let them in,” says Vivek Anand, CEO of the Humsafar Trust, in an interview with the Guardian.
The Humsafar Trust started India’s first clinic dedicated to members of the LGBTQ community living with HIV in Mumbai. The clinic provides free treatment to members of the LGBTQ community from low-income backgrounds. But, according to Anand, 30-40% of the people who test HIV positive at the clinic never finish their treatment.
“More than discrimination, self-stigmatization keeps the community away from accessing treatment,” he adds. Lack of education coupled with lack of access to proper counselling services is the root cause of this.
Access and Accessibility – What needs to change?
Labelling menstruation as a ‘Ladies problem’ has made it difficult for gender non-conforming people to be a part of the discussion. Sanitary napkins have been created and catered towards women.
We need to be focusing on modern innovations like the American company ‘Pyramid Seven’ that created period friendly boxers for trans men and gender non-conforming people. Designed for ‘people who menstruate’, the gender-inclusive line and others like it must be included in sex-education so that the LGBTQIA+ community knows that there are other options out there.
In 2017, transgender artist and activist Cass Clemmer posted a photograph on Instagram holding a sign that said “Periods are not just for women” with the hashtag #BleedingWhileTrans. While the photograph started a conversation around menstruation in the non-binary community, it also invited a lot of unsolicited transphobic comments.
Clemmer also penned an article for HuffPost about their personal experience with menstruation as a non-binary trans person. The article talks about how periods not only increase the body dysphoria that trans people feel but also makes it incredibly difficult in public situations as men’s bathrooms don’t have the proper bins or spaces when trans people can safely change their sanitary products.
The Black of gender-neutral bathrooms has been an issue in India as well.
“Going to the washroom in public while looking masculine hasn’t been pleasant. Gender-neutral bathrooms need to be provided in more places, not just cafes and restaurants” says Val, a resident of Mumbai, who was also interviewed by Socialstory.
Changing Legislature
When it comes to LGBTQIA+ rights in India, it’s always been two steps forward, one step back. The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the 2014 NALSA v. Union of India case was a positive step, but the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act passed in 2019 effectively strips trans people of the right to self identify.
Instead of forcing the trans community to undergo expensive irreversible sex-reassignment surgery in order to be able to identify as who they want to be, there should be a focus on education and effective implementation of anti-discrimination policies.
Increased representation of the trans community, stringent punishment for discrimination in hospitals and clinics, and gender-neutral restrooms, as well as sanitary products, is the way forward.
There needs to be a holistic reform of the educational systems in order for these changes to happen. Open inclusive conversations and erasing all preconceived notions is the only way we can change harmful regressive mindsets that have made life difficult for the LGBTQIA+ community.
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