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Now, a special certificate course, ‘Law and Alternative Sexualities’
PUNE Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s Shankarrao Chavan Law College - affiliated to the SPPU - have for the first time introduced a special certificate course explaining the laws for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community
PUNE Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s Shankarrao Chavan Law College - affiliated to the SPPU - have for the first time introduced a special certificate course explaining the laws for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community. The course has been introduced to honour the challenges faced by the LGBTQ community and aims to introduce students to and acquaint them with the concept of alternative sexual identities; and the history, law, politics and literature of alternative sexualities in ancient, medieval and contemporary India.
The special certificate course titled, ‘Law and Alternative Sexualities’ has already got an overwhelming response with a diverse group of participants ranging from 19 to 40 years including: second, third and fourth year students of BA LLB; psychologists; Ph.D./research scholars (conducting research on gender studies); IIT Roorkee students; post-graduate (PG) teachers; PGs in English and Psychology; and a college counselor.
The three-month course has been exclusively designed for practitioners of law and students interested in understanding LGBTQ laws. “It’s the first-of-its-kind because this certificate course is designed with a holistic approach with the help of the principal resource person, professor Dr R Raj Rao; Zainab; Ashok Row Kavi; Shobhna Kumar; Bindumadhav Khire; Parmesh Shahni; Sylvester Merchant; mental health professionals; the CEO of Sweekar Foundation (a support group of the parents of LGBTQ children); professionals from the centre for legal policy; and medical professionals from the public health centre,” said Renu Naidu, assistant professor of Sociology, Shankarrao Chavan Law College, who has helped design this course along with B G Jadhav, executive president, Marathwada Mitra Mandal, Pune; and Kranti Deshmukh, principal.
Gay rights’ supporters/activists have transformed the law and the legal profession, opening the doors of law firms, law schools and courts to people who were once very casually and cruelly shut out because of their sexual orientation.
“Today, homosexuality and queer identities may be acceptable to more Indian youth than ever before, but within the boundaries of family, home, school and college, acceptance of their sexuality and freedom to openly express their gender choices still remains a constant struggle for LGBTQ people. The fundamental problem is lack of awareness and acceptance, anxiety, lack of education, guilt, confusion, hesitation to ask questions related to gender identity and many more. Such programmes help not only in building awareness among our college students but also in fostering the free exchange of ideas which would further help in building a campus that welcomes diversity of opinion and people of all backgrounds,” Naidu said.
The idea is to have an inclusive environment in the campus because even today, many students drop out because of non-acceptance and lack of awareness among other students. Campuses could be diverse without really being supportive or inclusive of LGBTQ students. “We need to build an environment where we accept people exactly where they are in their development,” she added.
