COVER STORY
Outlook Magazine - 10 June 2024
Outlook X Reckitt Pride Month Special Issue 2024
The LGBTQIA+ community has battled long and hard against deep-set social prejudices and unjust laws and notched up significant victories, but more remains to be done to achieve a just and inclusive world
Bharatiya culture empowers India’s youth through creativity and cultural expression, providing them with the nurturing environment and the tools they need to lead the world and help India achieve its aspirations
India’s LGBTQIA+ community has created its own set of influencers. They are popular not just within the community but have become stars surpassing social boundaries. Some of them have featured in media campaigns launched by brands, while others have been recognised as authors, actors and advisors. Let us meet top LGBTQIA+ icons and learn how they influence people
The LGBTQIA+ movement has witnessed a tumultuous journey marked by several highs and a few gut-wrenching lows that have delivered a better, if not perfect, world for the community
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India was established in 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993, amended in 2006. The PHRA defines human rights as rights related to life, liberty, equality, and dignity guaranteed by the Constitution or international covenants, enforceable by Indian courts. Arun Kumar Mishra, a former Supreme Court judge, chairs the NHRC. He is a former Chief Justice of the Calcutta and Rajasthan high courts. He was also a judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. In this conversation with Rajiv Tikoo, Justice Mishra talks about the status of the LGBTQIA+ community, the road traversed so far, what lies ahead and much more. Edited excerpts:
The widespread misconception about consent in India, robbing women of their bodily autonomy, distorting relationships and reinforcing gender biases, is a clarion call for the country to promote consent curriculum beginning with schools
India is driving change by strengthening comprehensive primary health services to provide preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care services to communities close to where they live
Other than equipping the youth with social and technical skills needed to navigate highly disruptive workplaces, organisations and governments would need to foster a culture of lifelong learning and eliminate gender and other discriminations to secure their future
The LGBTQIA+ community has battled long and hard against deep-set social prejudices and unjust laws and notched up significant victories, but more remains to be done to achieve a just and inclusive world
Bharatiya culture empowers India’s youth through creativity and cultural expression, providing them with the nurturing environment and the tools they need to lead the world and help India achieve its aspirations
India’s LGBTQIA+ community has created its own set of influencers. They are popular not just within the community but have become stars surpassing social boundaries. Some of them have featured in media campaigns launched by brands, while others have been recognised as authors, actors and advisors. Let us meet top LGBTQIA+ icons and learn how they influence people
The LGBTQIA+ movement has witnessed a tumultuous journey marked by several highs and a few gut-wrenching lows that have delivered a better, if not perfect, world for the community
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India was established in 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993, amended in 2006. The PHRA defines human rights as rights related to life, liberty, equality, and dignity guaranteed by the Constitution or international covenants, enforceable by Indian courts. Arun Kumar Mishra, a former Supreme Court judge, chairs the NHRC. He is a former Chief Justice of the Calcutta and Rajasthan high courts. He was also a judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. In this conversation with Rajiv Tikoo, Justice Mishra talks about the status of the LGBTQIA+ community, the road traversed so far, what lies ahead and much more. Edited excerpts:
The widespread misconception about consent in India, robbing women of their bodily autonomy, distorting relationships and reinforcing gender biases, is a clarion call for the country to promote consent curriculum beginning with schools
India is driving change by strengthening comprehensive primary health services to provide preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care services to communities close to where they live
Other than equipping the youth with social and technical skills needed to navigate highly disruptive workplaces, organisations and governments would need to foster a culture of lifelong learning and eliminate gender and other discriminations to secure their future
OTHER STORIES
Though the Supreme Court disappointed the LGBTQIA+ community on the issue of civil union, it hopes that the recent announcements by the Indian National Congress, CPI(M) and BJP will pave the way for a legislative solution to its rights
Mohammed Asif is Executive Director and Dr Komal Goswami is Chief of Party at Plan International (India Chapter). While Asif leads the organisation’s initiatives in welfare and development for children and equality for girls and women in India, Goswami leads the purpose-driven initiatives of Reckitt executed through PLAN India. In an interview with Naina Gautam, they talk about The Birds and Bees Talk (TBBT) initiative, the opportunities, the achievements and the challenges so far. Excerpts:
Battling loneliness and lacking awareness, India’s youth are sharing much more than what is good for them online and becoming the unwitting victims of crimes ranging from sextortion to doxing and more. The prevailing laws, unfortunately, are inadequate
Programmes that raise awareness and equip the young with guidance and agency to challenge skewed social stereotypes can shake deep-set prejudices, trigger affirmative action, and overturn the status quo
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi celebrates the changing perceptions about the transgender community in India
The Birds and Bees Talk (TBBT) project is educating youth and children in the north-eastern states on the core principles of inclusion, equity, awareness, consent, and protection so that they grow into responsible, healthy adults, and building teachers’ capacity to help students in critical thinking, decision-making and analytical skills in the most experiential and interactive way
TBBT project is using tools ranging from the conventional to the out-of-the-box like mass media, school curriculum, adolescents mental health helpline, e-learning platform, AI-powered Chatbot HeloJubi, music album, murals and social media to enable children and youth to grow into healthy individuals
India’s youth population presents a significant opportunity for an economic surge, but realising this potential requires an equity-oriented approach that addresses the country’s vast socio-economic disparities
Despite major setbacks in courtrooms, the queer movement will soldier and ultimately win because it is quintessentially a battle for love and to live with dignity
Educators can empower the youth by providing them various tools and resources so that they can make informed and empowered choices and cultivate meaningful emotive connections based on reciprocity, love and understanding
It is not only children and young people, who grope in the dark for answers to their growing up questions, but also parents who struggle to cope with the double challenge of helping children find answers and also address their own difficulties in the process
In its state of unending flux, language evolves just a semicolon behind changing societal constructs and, therefore, you may now call sex, sex, and queer, queer without causing any social seizures!
