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Kerala: Social justice wing plans sensitisation

It is too early to talk about any concrete measure we would take to ensure justice for all, and enforce the verdict.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The social justice department will embark on an awareness campaign on sexual orientation to sensitise the public and government officials after Thursday’s Supreme Court verdict on IPC 377.

“It is too early to talk about any concrete measure we would take to ensure justice for all, and enforce the verdict. The department can immediately start an awareness campaign, telling society that there is nothing illegal or wrong about homosexuality. While the enforcement of the verdict is primarily the responsibility of a law and order agency, we can support sensitisation. We can intervene and facilitate understanding of this verdict among law enforcement agencies as well,” social justice director Jafar Malik told DC.

The need for sensitising everyone, especially law enforcement agencies like police force, about the cause of sexual and gender minorities, became apparent after a series of assaults in the state.

In Kochi, police had allegedly charged a fake case against transgender persons early this year. The state TG justice board had publicly denounced the act. The SJ department itself had committed a major faux pas typing ‘sex’ in the place of ‘gender’ in TG identity cards.

There were other issues with the TG card. A transgender person, who wants to identify as a man or a woman and not let go of the transgender identity, did not have that provision. It remained against the Supreme Court NALSA judgment in spirit, until LGBTQIA+ organisation Queerala filed a plea in the High Court.
It took several years for state governments to formulate TG policies, though the NALSA judgment came out in 2014.

This too will involve several campaigns and interventions, according to Syama S. Prabha, project head, state TG cell. “Perhaps the state will have to bring out a policy similar to TG policy inclusive of sexual minorities,” she said.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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