On Monday, Goa’s Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Ramesh Tawadkar became the subject of incredulous humour on social media when he announced a plan to make Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender youth “normal”.
“We will have a centre for them,” he said in response to a query about Goa’s youth policy. “Like Alcoholic Anonymous centres, we will have centres. We will train them and give them medicines too.”
Curious to know what the policy actually says about LGBT youth, I downloaded the document from the Goa government website. Sure enough, set against an unintentionally shocking pink PowerPoint background, along with references to “eradication of social evils and vices” and “courses on spirituality and value education” was a listing of the target groups.
Just a laundry list of segments of youth with specific needs to be addressed. No plan on how to address these needs, but at least a recognition that LGBT youth are stigmatised. This language itself appears to have been borrowed from draft documents of the Planning Commission’s 12th Plan, and the finalised National Youth Policy 2014 of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
The NYP2014 states:
Nothing about curing LGBT youth of their alleged abnormality. Instead, a call for ensuring inclusion and freedom from prejudice.
It appears that the Honourable Minister has, in his haste to assemble the presentation that purports to be the state youth policy document, been unable to comprehend the recommendations of the National Youth Policy, or else he would have realised he is perpetuating the very stigma that the national policy aims – at least on paper – to address.
His recommendations for starting treatment centres indicate his lack of knowledge of professional medical opinion, including the views articulated by the World Health Organisation in 1990 and the Indian Psychiatric Society in editorials in its journal published in 2012 and 2014, all of which declare same-sex attraction to be a normal variation of human sexuality, not an illness to be treated.
The real maladies here aren’t LGBT orientations or identities, but some haphazard copy-pasting, and foot-in-mouth resulting from abysmal ignorance. There isn’t a cure for these, but an apology would be nice.
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“We will have a centre for them,” he said in response to a query about Goa’s youth policy. “Like Alcoholic Anonymous centres, we will have centres. We will train them and give them medicines too.”
Curious to know what the policy actually says about LGBT youth, I downloaded the document from the Goa government website. Sure enough, set against an unintentionally shocking pink PowerPoint background, along with references to “eradication of social evils and vices” and “courses on spirituality and value education” was a listing of the target groups.
"It needs to be recognised that all young people within an age group are unlikely to be a homogenous group. There will be different segments of youth with varying needs and aspirations that need to be addressed. These are disadvantaged youth due to socio-economic conditions including SC/ST/OBC, young women, dropouts from formal education, marginalised/migrant youth, youth at risk and in conflict with law including substance abuse, human trafficking, hazardous occupations, juvenile offenders etc., differently abled youth, youth with chronic physical & mental ailments, marginalised/migrant youth, stigmatised youth (LGBT), geographically disadvantaged youth (rural/mining/forest/slums)."
Just a laundry list of segments of youth with specific needs to be addressed. No plan on how to address these needs, but at least a recognition that LGBT youth are stigmatised. This language itself appears to have been borrowed from draft documents of the Planning Commission’s 12th Plan, and the finalised National Youth Policy 2014 of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
The NYP2014 states:
“Priority Area 10: Inclusion There are a number of youth at risk and marginalised youth who require special attention in order to ensure that they can access and benefit from the government programmes. These youth can broadly be categorised as follows: Youth that suffer from social or moral stigma including but not limited to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) youth, youth infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.
“Priority Area 11: Social Justice It is important to ensure that youth of all backgrounds are free from discrimination, stigma, and disadvantage; and have recourse to a justice system that is swift and equitable. A concerted effort has been made to ensure that GoI programmes are inclusive, and that disadvantaged groups are supported. It is important that an effort is made to mainstream the disadvantaged groups through affirmative action and other targeted programmes. Furthermore, there is need for greater monitoring and media attention to prevent illegal social practices such as dowry, child marriage, honour killings, caste-based discrimination and stigmatisation of LGBT youth. Hence, it is important to create systems of education and moral transformation at the grassroots level to eliminate these practices of stigmatization and discrimination, and deliver social justice for all.”
Nothing about curing LGBT youth of their alleged abnormality. Instead, a call for ensuring inclusion and freedom from prejudice.
It appears that the Honourable Minister has, in his haste to assemble the presentation that purports to be the state youth policy document, been unable to comprehend the recommendations of the National Youth Policy, or else he would have realised he is perpetuating the very stigma that the national policy aims – at least on paper – to address.
His recommendations for starting treatment centres indicate his lack of knowledge of professional medical opinion, including the views articulated by the World Health Organisation in 1990 and the Indian Psychiatric Society in editorials in its journal published in 2012 and 2014, all of which declare same-sex attraction to be a normal variation of human sexuality, not an illness to be treated.
The real maladies here aren’t LGBT orientations or identities, but some haphazard copy-pasting, and foot-in-mouth resulting from abysmal ignorance. There isn’t a cure for these, but an apology would be nice.