Insight, Jun '15
Psychiatrist Dr. Ujjaini Srimani, advocate Kaushik Gupta and social activist Bappaditya Mukherjee on how to tackle grievous, illegal and unethical attempts to ‘cure’ queer persons
Reshma is 19 and lives in Tangra, Kolkata (some markers of
identity changed to maintain confidentiality). Reshma is a trans woman affected
by relentless family violence because of her non-conforming sense of gender and
attire – so much so that she has started contemplating suicide. Matters came to
a serious head recently when she was beaten up by her brother and parents and
threatened with eviction from home. This time she mustered the courage to
report the matter to the local police station with assistance from Kolkata Rista, a Kolkata-based support forum for trans women. But she was in for a
shock when the sub-inspector at the police station sided with her family
members instead (though he did record a General Diary based on her complaint),
and exhorted them to get her ‘treated’ for the ‘disease’ she was suffering
from, even if force was required. If any doctor refused to treat her, he
promised to speak to the doctor to ensure that Reshma got the ‘treatment’ she
required to become ‘normal’ (euphemism for ‘heterosexual man’).
Psychiatrist Dr. Ujjaini Srimani, advocate Kaushik Gupta and social activist Bappaditya Mukherjee on how to tackle grievous, illegal and unethical attempts to ‘cure’ queer persons
