Tamil Nadu Government Is Framing Rules To Punish Police Personnel Who Harass LGBTQIA+ People

In a first-of-its-kind effort, the Tamil Nadu government is framing rules to punish police personnel who harass members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The state governmentĄ¯s submission was made while the high court was hearing a case relating to alleged police harassment of a same-sex couple.

The Court, in its September 1 order, directed the state police to add a clause providing that any harassment by police to LGBTQIA+ community and the activists/NGOs will be treated as misconduct and will entail punishment.

ANI

The Court also observed that insensitive reporting on LGBTQIA+ issues by a certain section of the media cannot be normalised.

Justice Anand Venkatesh also made a suggestion to the National Medical Commission to modify the medical education curriculum so that doctors do not resort to conversion therapy with the foolish notion that there is a cure for gender/sexual orientation.

The order calld for schools and colleges making gender neutral restrooms available, and gender-nonconforming or trans prisoners should be housed separately if needed to protect them from sexual assault.

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"Ignorance is no justification for normalizing any form of discrimination," Venkatesh wrote in his order. Educators should reach out to parents, to help "sensitize parents on issues of LGBTQIA+ community and gender nonconforming students, to ensure supportive families," his order read.