Lending support from various walks of life
On International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, here are a few tales from the city.
For long, the city has been known to don a conservative approach from taking a stand on the long standing Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) issue.
However, taking a step in the right direction, commemorating the occasion of International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, the American Consulate, Hyderabad, organised a talk featuring five speakers from various walks of life. The speakers shared their experiences with people from the LGBT community.
Anant Maringanti, executive director of Hyderabad Urban Labs, began by reading out a heartwarming letter written by his close friend 10 years ago. In the letter, she talks about her experiences of being a transgender parent and her two-year-old son’s emerging crisis over his gender identity.
Anant said, “I remember how difficult the entire period was for her, especially for a lesbian couple to raise their own kids. Every little detail of their lives brought upon a great amount of anxiety.”
US Consul General Micheal Mullins spoke about the tumultuous relationship his sister and their conservative father shared when she revealed that she was about to marry an African-American man. He said, “They stopped talking for several years, until my mother eventually intervened.”
By then his sister had been married twice, unsuccessfully, and was currently in a relationship with a woman. “When they finally met, my father laid his eyes on his grand-daughter for the first time and suddenly, everything changed. He welcomed them all — including my sister’s girlfriend — into the family with open arms. If my father can change so much, so can we all,” he added.
“I have never seen anyone as capable as Lucky when it comes to organising and managing events,” said Tejaswini Madabhusi, a visiting faculty at IIIT. Lucky is her friend and also happens to be a part of the LGBT community. “Everyone wants to work with her. She elicits a certain sense of loyalty in people. I have learnt so much from her and nothing has to do with her sexual orientation,” she added.