How India can make educational institutions queer- and trans-inclusive

“I did not feel comfortable and safe to disclose my diverse sexual orientation or gender identity when I was in college or at university," revealed Yamya (name changed to safeguard identity), a queer student from West Bengal who had done their post-graduation in development studies at a private university in Bengaluru between 2020 and 2022.

"Ironically, even faculty members who taught the gender studies course at our university (a privately run but supposedly progressive and inclusive one) always referred only to the binary genders. In fact, faculty members or the university administration or management personnel did not discourage either students or their colleagues from limiting themselves to the gender binary,” Yayma told The Federal.

Ridicule and insensitivity

On the other hand, Dr Praacchi Rathod, who is open about her gender identity as a transwoman and training to be an orthopedic surgeon in Telangana, has faced ridicule and insensitivity from some of her classmates and faculty members during her post-graduate programme.

Similarly, Myra, an experienced nurse hailing from Maharashtra, who works in the operation theatre of a large private hospital in Bengaluru, faced voyeurism from some of her classmates while she was a nursing student over 10 years ago.

Fortunately, as one of Myra’s professors backed and encouraged her regularly, she found the strength to continue with her studies and perform well.

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Superficial understanding

However, most of their patients, patient attendants and professional colleagues are very respectful towards Dr Praacchi and Myra, irrespective of whether they know that the latter are transwomen or not. So, it is shameful that persons training to be doctors and nurses are biased and insensitive towards a few of their gender diverse peers, when their profession mandates compassion, empathy and dignified behaviour towards everyone.

This behavior also directly violates Articles 14 (Right to Equality) and 15 (Right to non-discrimination) of the Constitution of India.

Sal, a young lawyer and legal researcher based in Goa at present and one of the conveners of the Law Schools Queer Alliance, told The Federal: “I had been open about my sexuality among my peers as an undergraduate and postgraduate student over the last few years. While a few of the educational institutions I have been associated with as a student and research associate would pose as being respectful towards gender and sexual diversity, the realities were different.”

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Superficial understanding

This writer has met some of the teaching faculty and research scholars from two of the reputed government institutions where Sal studied and worked, multiple times between 2017 and now.

Sadly, like Sal mentioned, the understanding of many of the cisgender teachers and scholars at these institutions about the lives, challenges, aspirations and needs of LGBTQIAP+ persons is very superficial and unsatisfactory.

This is troubling, as the cisgender teachers at both the institutions claim that they are supportive towards LGBTQIAP+ persons and that they have been studying and teaching about the community affirmatively.

Selective campus facilities

“We were provided gender inclusive hostels after much struggle with the institute management but not gender inclusive washrooms,” observed Vihaan, a transmasculine person and Ambedkarite, who did their post-graduation in social work, at a reputed private institution in Mumbai, nearly a decade ago.

Even now, the college apparently has inclusive hostels but not inclusive or specific washrooms for gender diverse persons. “In fact, as per the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, all educational institutions must have a transgender persons’ protection cell but I doubt that is the case,” Vihaan added.

Such selective and insufficient provisions of the basic needs of LGBTQIAP+ students sometimes can complicate their lives and compel them to discontinue their studies or attempt or commit self-harm.

Potential issues

In fact, the absence of gender inclusive washrooms can lead to gender diverse persons being unable to use the washroom matching their gender identity, triggering gender dysphoria.

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Contrastingly, Sam, a genderqueer person teaching at a private university in southern India, said they and their friends had heard of only a few universities (public and private) in India that truly welcome students and staff being gender diverse or fluid in their sexuality and open about their gender and sexual identities.

Having studied in a gender segregated school and college in Chennai, they found little space to explore their queerness. The experience is quite different in their current institution, where they are open about their queerness as the university is queer-supportive.

“It was later on that some friends and I reflected that we had made a subconscious decision to apply places we knew would be queer- trans-inclusive,” Sam remarked.

Legal impact

Until about a decade ago, many LGBTQIAP+ persons could barely complete their high school or college education.

This was owing to the ridicule, harassment, discrimination and sometimes oral abuse, sexual assault and physical violence they faced in educational institutions from their peers or teachers, if they disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity or their sexuality and or expression was perceived as diverse. Thereby, those LGBTQIAP+ persons discontinued their academic education — thus, struggling for stable jobs and sustainable income.

Unsurprisingly, some LGBTQIAP+ persons suppress their sexual orientation and gender identity until they complete their graduation and find a viable livelihood.

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However, a few legal and policy provisions have seemingly encouraged LGBTQIAP+ students and staff to disclose their sexual orientation and gender diversity. Among them is the Supreme Court judgement of April 2014 in the NALSA vs Union of India petition that recognised transgender as a valid gender identity and also accepted the self-determination of gender identity.

Legal precedents

Further, the Supreme Court verdict of September 2018 (in the Navtej Johar and relevant petitions) that read down IPC section 377 to decriminalise homosexuality also perhaps contributed to educational institutions becoming gender inclusive and affirming, partly.

While the gender diversity and other inclusion measures in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 seem promising, withdrawing the gender affirmative NCERT teacher training material in 2021 (within a week of its notification) and harassing some of its creators is outrageous.

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The above affirmative judgments, policies and LGBTQIAP+ persons reiterate that anti-ragging policies and anti-discrimination bodies in educational institutions must understand and support the community.

Way forward

Further, queer persons must be invited to regularly sensitise students and staff about SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, sex characteristics) diversity and intersectionality. Queer students must be permitted to form queer groups and conduct events on educational campuses.

Additionally, they must be consulted in creating and incorporating respectful and correct information about them in academic curricula. And these measures must ensure behaviour change through appropriate and adequate positive reinforcement rather than penalty and punishment.

Only then will dignified acceptance of LGBTQIAP+ persons become the norm and not the exception.