ID cards gave us a sense of belonging

CHENNAI: The Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual Transgender (LGBT) pride march will come to the city for the third time on Sunday. In this respect, a panel discussion, jointly organised by the US Consulate in Chennai and Sahodari Foundation on ‘Human Rights of Sexual Minorities’  was held on Friday.G Jayalakshmi, Deputy Director, Social Welfare, traced the role of the government in setting up a transgenders welfare board in 2008, and how the board was instrumental in taking the various welfare schemes to the community.Coming out with specifics, she said, “Through the district and state level screening committees so far, we have distributed 2,892 ID cards. Ration cards have been given to 1,238 people and 133 group houses were allotted to members of the community. Besides, 482 were given land documents and 585 were given health insurance cards.”Salma, writer and former chairperson of the TN Social Welfare Boad, appreciated the efforts of the government as the first step towards an inclusive dialogue. She said, “Providing ID cards to the transgender community is a very symbolic gesture, but it also invests them with a sense of possession that they have failed to get as a member of the sexual minority group, ” adding “society’s perception must change”.Kalki Subramaniam, the first trans-sexual participant from the country in the US International Visitor Leadership Programme and Director of Sahodari, recalled her experiences during her visit where she studied human rights advocacy in the US. She said, “The suffering of the transgender community can be compared with the privations that the African-American community had faced in the past while seeking a position in society.”Mathew Beh, US Consulate’s political counsellor, remembered the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969 where the gay community protested police action on them in New York,  while tracing the origins of the Pride month.   Messages from US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on their commitment to eliminating discrimination against sexual minorities were shown. A movie on transgender rights ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ was screened.