THE LEAFLET BULLETIN

Protecting the queer community from sexual harassment

FEMALE. Male. Woman. Man. Non-binary. Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Asexual. Queer. Androgynous. Genderqueer. Genderfluid. Pansexual. Intersex. Intergender. FTM. MTF. FTF. MTM. Demisexual. Polysexual.

The government, after much struggle by people over the past,?introduced ?the third category of ‘other’ in addition to ‘male’ and ‘female’ in certain administrative forms. It is certainly encouraging to see change in the official State position in the country, but a merely apparent moving away from cis-sexism is not enough in terms of policy, especially considering the nuances of legal recognition. It has taken the better part of a century for the Indian legislature and executive to take the step for limited formal recognition of a third gender, and while we are still, sadly,?ahead of certain other countries , this pace is grossly unsatisfactory. The matter impacts not only members of the queer community in India, but all of society, as it is increasingly being accepted as an issue of the broader question of how we perceive identity and sexuality.

Re-imagining our queer futures four years after Navtej Singh Johar

IT?was December 2017; a person I was dating then kissed me at a traffic signal in his car. I blushed, but immediately heard the sound I had dreaded. A knock on the window, and a policeman asked us to get out. He told us he would call our parents and was, amongst other things, arresting us under?Section 377 ?of the Indian Penal Code.

Having gone through a fair bit of law school then, I knew that it carried imprisonment for life or ten years of either description or with a fine. I had no idea what to do. I froze. After much cajoling, and the person I was with paying a hefty bribe, he let us go.

As I write about that incident today, my hands quiver, and my throat goes dry.

Freebie debate: The best way forward

A?webinar, consisting of a panel discussion, titled ‘Freebies Culture and its Impact on Indian Politics & Democracy’ was organised on September 3 by the Association for Democratic Reforms (‘ADR’), a?non-partisan, non-governmental organization?that aims to improve governance and strengthen democracy in the area of electoral and political reforms. In view of a?recent public interest litigation (‘PIL’) ?challenging freebies offered before election by political parties being heard by the Supreme Court, the webinar, as moderated by Anil Verma, Head of ADR, focussed on bringing together stakeholders representing different views and perspectives on the issue.

National Medical Commission declares conversion therapy as professional misconduct, but it is not enough

A?few days before the fourth anniversary of?Navtej Singh Johar versus Union of India?(2018) , wherein the Supreme Court read down?Section 377 ?of the Indian Penal Code that criminalised consensual sex between same-sex adults, the National Medical Commission (‘NMC’), the highest regulatory body of medical professionals in India, in a significant move, has written to all State Medical Councils to declare conversion or reparative therapy (also referred to as gay cure therapy) as?professional misconduct ?under the?Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (Professional Conduct & Ethics) Regulations, 2002 .

The communication said, “In compliance of order July 8, 2022, Ethics and Medical Registration Board, National Medical Commission has decided that conversion therapy will constitute a professional misconduct under the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct Etiquettes and Ethics) Regulations, 2002’’.

Software & hardware

Over?four crore pending cases

Would make anyone ask ‘Why’?

Performance isn’t up to the mark

And expectations have been high

Milords differ in IQ and capacity

Some will work hard, some shirk

Mere additions in justice system

Can never be guaranteed to work

A supreme milord just?mentioned

In an attempt to make us all aware

Infrastructural “hardware” is required

Judges and Lawyers are “software”!