Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) There is a need to promote understanding and inclusion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in society, said experts and human rights activists here Friday.

“All of us have biases and these can’t really be removed, so creating acceptance is the better objective than trying to remove everyone’s biases,” Pramada Menon, a prominent LGBT rights activist, researcher and consultant, told IANS.

Menon, who has been associated with several women’s and gay rights groups in past two decades, was speaking at the “Charcha, Chai and Coffee” initiative by the American Center here.

According to Menon, even after two years of decriminalisation of homosexuality, there still persists a significant fear in the gay community to come out of the closet in front of their families, friends and at workplaces.

“If the people come out to themselves and are happy about it, eventually the society’s acceptance would grow.”

On the question of whether the wider aspect of suppression of sexuality was a bigger issue than that of the LGBT community, she replied that both the issues are important and need simultaneous efforts to remove them.

“While the issue of suppression of sexuality needs a lot of work, we have to keep creating places where the LGBT can have their voice,” she said.

Menon’s views were corroborated by Lydia Barraza of American Center, who said that the US is committed to LGBT rights.

“Hillary Clinton’s Dec 7 speech, proclaiming the fight of LGBT rights as the new frontier of the fight for human rights, is a bold statement for the cause,” she said.