The Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission (SPC) has submitted to the state government a draft policy for LGBTQIA+ communities — one of its most prominent suggestions being the much-awaited horizontal reservation for transgender and intersex persons. Horizontal reservation would provide a quota within quota, for trans and intersex persons, which means they can avail separate reservation in the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and general categories. As per the document accessed by TNM, the draft suggests a horizontal reservation of 1% in the fields of education and employment to both communities.
Besides horizontal reservation, which has been a long-pending demand of trans persons in the state, the draft also recommends the inclusion of trans and intersex persons in the Chief Minister's health insurance scheme. The draft policy was formulated by the SPC, and an eleven-member committee comprising diverse LGBTQIA+ persons has now been constituted as part of the state government’s plan to devise the final policy for the entire LGBTQIA+ spectrum based on the draft. A preliminary meeting of this committee was held at the Commissionerate of Social Welfare in Chennai on Thursday, July 21.
While other states have policies specifically for trans persons, Tamil Nadu is aiming to implement a broader policy that understands the specific challenges of gender and sexual minorities, with specific focus on trans and intersex communities. Sources said the new policy will not disturb existing policies for transgender communities, and instead aims to bring all LGBTQIA+ persons under the ambit of the policy with a focus on their safety and upliftment.
The preamble of the draft policy says its purpose is to reduce social and economic disparities faced by people on the grounds of their “gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics.” Stating that the whole of LGBTQIA+ community is an “in,tersectional community” that cuts through several social groups, it says the goal is to provide inclusive policy actions and programs to uplift them from social and economic backwardness.
The draft policy states that while its focus is more on the rights of trans and intersex persons, it is essential to include all persons in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, as there is a shared interest because of the “social stigma and socio-economic discrimination” they face. Cross-cutting issues across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, the draft has placed importance on the safety and protection of LGBTQIA+ persons from family violence, need for shelter homes, preventing bullying in educational institutions, inclusive workplaces, and recognition of atypical families.
For the purpose of reservation in education and employment, the draft states, transgender persons will be treated as “socially and educationally backward classes”. The draft also states that a reservation of 1% shall be made for transgender persons in all recruitments made in respect of any service or post, “in all direct recruitment in each of the categories of Open Competition, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Most Backward Classes and Backward Classes,” as well as in all admissions for all courses in all educational institutions.
The draft suggests elaborate measures to be taken to uphold the right to healthcare of the trans and intersex communities, some of which are as follows.
> The coverage of the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme should be extended to all medical procedures required by transgender persons.
> Medical procedures required by transgender persons — such as gender affirmation surgery and other affirming procedures — should first be made available at five government medical college hospitals in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and Dharmapuri. They should then be extended to all government medical college hospitals in the state.
> The Transgender Welfare Board should pay all transgender persons who have undergone designated medical procedures Rs 10,000 to compensate for the loss of livelihood. However, there is no clarity on whether this is a one-time payment.
> All medical professionals involved should use gender appropriate terminologies while treating patients.
There is no clarity on whether the suggestions specifically referring to transgender persons in the draft apply to people with intersex variations as well. It is also not clear whether there are specific policies for the healthcare and welfare of trans men, as the challenges faced by them are different from those of trans women. Members of the community expect that clear distinctions will be made in these regards in the final policy.
In a move that has been welcomed by intersex persons, however, the draft makes it a point to establish the difference between transgender and intersex identities. This becomes important because of the frequent conflation of both terms, even within the healthcare system. The draft states that “intersex is a term that is widely misunderstood”, and explains that people with intersex variations are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that may not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. It also states that gender affirming surgery and other medical procedures for trans and intersex communities will be based on standard protocols and will follow ethical principles.
Besides the suggestions that specifically concern trans and intersex persons, the draft recommends systemic changes towards the upliftment of the multiple gender and sexual minorities under the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. It calls for the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons in the society, and seeks to provide them with social protection as well as a “barrier-free and equal access” to education, healthcare, and employment. It adds that all government departments and public authorities should be directed to extend non-discriminatory treatment to LGBTQIA+ persons.
Stating that any instances of gender and sex related “discrimination, insults, taunts, and violence” against LGBTQIA+ persons shall be dealt with sternly, the draft also says the government should ensure that laws against gender–based violence are made LGBTQIA+ friendly.
Regarding the right to employment, the draft says no qualified LGBTQIA+ person shall be denied employment “solely for the reason of being an LGBTQIA+ person”. It has also stated that the Labour Department should devise anti-discrimination policies and implement them. All educational institutions should adopt an LGBTQIA+ policy to raise awareness and address the issues of violence, abuse, and discrimination against students who have a diverse gender identity and sexual orientation, it adds.
The draft suggests the establishment of the ‘Tamil Nadu Council for LGBTQIA+ Persons’ and ‘District Level LGBTQIA+ Welfare and Justice Committees’ to enable the coordination between different government departments to address the issues faced by LGBTQIA+ persons. This committee shall have five representatives from LGBTQIA+ communities.
According to sources in the Social Welfare Department, the drafting committee has decided to next conduct a meeting with the current Transgender Welfare Board to discuss the clear distinctions that have to be made in the policy, especially pertaining to the welfare of transgender and intersex persons. After that, a wider community consultation is being planned seeking the inputs of all community members, which will be followed by a committee meeting to finalise the policy. This is scheduled to be held within the next 45 days.
The Tamil Nadu government’s 11-member committee has derived its members from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum to ensure representation of the different communities in the spectrum. The committee is headed by the director of the Social Welfare Department and coordinated by the joint director. Other members are transgender activist and trans woman Kalaimamani Sudha from the NGO Sahodaran; trans man Arun Karthick and psychologist Dr Vidhya Dinakaran from the Tamil Nadu Transgender Welfare Board; vice president of NGO SAATHII L Ramakrishnan; co-founder of Queer Chennai Chronicles Chandramoulee; intersex, disabilities, and Dalit activist Vinodhan; LGBTQIA+ activist Busaina Ahamed Shah, Madras High Court advocate Ajeetha BS; and IIT Madras Associate Professor Tiju Thomas.
The committee was formed in accordance with the orders issued by Madras High Court Justice N Anand Venkatesh. The court had earlier directed the government to frame comprehensive guidelines and issued multiple directions to uphold the rights of LGBTQIA+ persons, and for their integration into mainstream society.
In accordance, the Tamil Nadu government published a glossary of LGBTQIA+ terms in Tamil in the government gazette, which was adapted for the most part from the LGBTQIA+ glossary published by the Queer Chennai Chronicles, The News Minute, Orinam, and several queer individuals, with some changes made by the state government. Prior to that, the Tamil Nadu government made harassment of LGBTQIA+ persons by the state police an act punishable by law, by amending the Tamil Nadu Subordinate Police Officers’ Conduct Rules 1964. A new rule — 24 C — was included, which states that police officers must not harass LGBTQIA+ persons and those working for the community’s well being.