DNA Edit: TISS shows the way

Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai deserves unstinted praise for opening the doors of its hostel to queer students. By offering them accommodation, it has broken down the binaries of gender in an educational institution.

TISS’s decision is in sync with the times. There is a growing demand in India to bestow upon the queer community its long-denied rights. The movement has drawn participation from different quarters of society, including the parents of queer people. The stigma associated with a different sexual orientation has also considerably reduced.

People, in general, have become sensitised to the unique challenges faced by the LGBTQ community. The enthusiastic participation in gay parades, drawing thousands of ‘normal’ people to a cause bears testimony to changing social mores. Furthermore, the realisation that homosexuality is neither a curse nor a disorder is gaining ground.

Now with TISS taking a progressive step towards the integration of queer students into the mainstream, other renowned educational institution should follow suit. However, it’s not all hunky dory as yet because some people in power, who could have played important roles in this integration, are still bound by a calcified outlook.

The headmistress of a girls’ school in Kolkata had recently asked some students to individually write down their sexual preferences. Their parents have been told that if their kids’ lesbian behaviour is not treated, they risk expulsion from the school. If that wasn’t terrible, Bengal’s Education Minister Partha Chatterjee made it so by saying he “will not allow lesbianism in schools” and that it is “against Bengali culture”. One ought to read the scriptures or observe temple architecture to realise that homosexuality has always been a part of Indian culture.