Most people are not exposed to the LGBTQIA+ community. So regular folk don’t know how to respond when they see someone (society identifies as a ‘man’) dressed in female clothes and with make-up.
I think we all need to educate ourselves.
Because of my work in the Development sector (for 11+ years), I have heard some painful stories of survival from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Stories of how they have been physically assaulted / groped in buses, for being “different”. When family has locked them up for days / performed religious ceremonies on them for “coming out” as gay / lesbian / trans.
There was one case where a trans-female person (born a male but transitioned into a female) was held down forcibly by quacks for an “operation” to make her a female (because she didn’t have the financial resources to go to a hospital for surgery).
Can you imagine the trauma?
If you cut off people from the mainstream and they take up sex-work to eke out a living, it’s a collective shame on us as a society.
And that’s why when Corporates such as Synopsys spend a significant amount of money (as part of their CSR programme) to train 20 LGBTQ people for a year, to make them employment ready, they should be applauded.
Nirmaan, the implementation partner (NGO), helped the LGBTQ community set up a cafe called “Hope In A Cup” in Madhapur in Hyderabad on September 7, 2023.
I tried their pizza and virgin mojito (mocktail) there and both were so good.
Stop by at this cafe, if you can.
Because hope begins in a cup.
