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Kolkata’s LGBT community wants opposition parties to unite against bill on transgenders
Members of the LGBT community from across the country will assemble at Parliament Street in New Delhi on December 17
Members of the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) community from all over the country will assemble at Parliament Street in New Delhi on December 17 to demand scrapping of the proposed Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016.
The announcement was made on Sunday at the annual Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk, Asia’s oldest walk for LGBT rights. The participants appealed to all opposition parties to resist the bill.
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“We are hoping to see leaders from opposition parties at the rally in Delhi. I can’t take names right now but we have been assured by leaders from the Congress and Left parties. We are also expecting representatives of Trinamool Congress,” said Aparna, activist and member of West Bengal Transgender Development Board.
Souvik, one of the main organisers of Sunday’s walk, said political consensus was absolutely necessary to scrap the bill. “We hope our Delhi rally will be a grand success,” he said.
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Explaining why the LGBT community was opposed to the bill, Pawan Dhall, former country director of Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in India (SAATHI), said the proposed bill nullifies the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee on social justice and empowerment.
“The bill denies one the right to identify his or her own gender. This goes against a Supreme Court order on this issue. The bill says transgender people will be identified on the basis of their anatomical feature,” said Dhall.
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Criminal lawyer and LGBT rights activist Kaushik Gupta said: “In October this year, the Indian government decided to vote against a UN resolution that condemned death penalty for LGBT people. Though India itself does not prescribe such a penalty, the government’s stand effectively means it supports violation of right to life.”
The colorful walk on Sunday started with a dance performance. The participants carried placards that condemned Transgender Bill 2016. The programme was attended even by people who are not members of the LGBT community.
