India a So Called Democracy LGBT Face Witch Doctors,Exorcists and Corrective Rape
When Sonia Singhal came out as a lesbian to her father, he took her straight to the witchdoctor.
Her father believed she had been invaded by an evil spirit, and the appointments became a regular occurrence.
"You have all the normal organs, there is no problem with your body," her father said to her.
She finally fled home, fearing she might be forcibly married, or her father would send someone to rape her to change her sexuality, a hate crime known as "corrective rape".
She was eventually granted protection by a Delhi court when her parents tried to track her down.
But this was a time when homosexuality was still illegal in India.
Modern India can be a dangerous place for a gay woman, and Sonia described the ensuing years on the run as "a lot of mental torture, emotional torture, financial torture".
Now a Delhi-based LGBTQI+ activist, Sonia has been given a shimmer of hope that things may be slowly starting to change in India.
Just like Sonia, a young gay couple in the country's south went to a judge for help.
But this time, the judge made history.
It started with a simple request
Shusha and Sheema first approached Chennai-based lawyer Manuraj Shunmugasundaram, with what seemed like a legally straightforward matter.
They have asked the ABC not to publish their images and surnames.
The same-sex couple, both in their early 20s, went into hiding after their disapproving parents filed a missing person's report with police to flush them out and force them home.
They had, for three years, fought a "war" to keep their relationship alive and hidden from family, friends, and the wider community.
But now they feared for their safety and wanted protection.
Mr Manuraj had never handled a case quite like this, but he had secured protection orders before — a routine legal process that would compel police to ensure the safety of his clients.
"I believe society is better for it. I believe the law is more richer for it," Manuraj Shunmugasundaram said of the judge's ruling. (ABC News: Wilfred Thomas)
He got what he wanted almost immediately; on the first day of hearings, the Madras High Court in Chennai issued a protection order.
But the case evolved into something much bigger than what Mr Manuraj and his clients ever imagined.
The judge, openly admitting his own biases, decided to undergo counselling with a psychologist and met with LGBTQI+ leaders and activists to better understand the plight of the community.
When the matter resumed several months later, the judge declared the process had "pulled [him] out of darkness".
"I have no hesitation in accepting that I too belong to the majority of commoners who are yet to comprehend homosexuality completely," Justice N Anand Venkatesh wrote in his orders handed down in June.
"Ignorance is no justification for normalising any form of discrimination."
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The judge's orders shocked India's LGBTQI+ community.
'We felt like we have created history'
Justice N Anand Venkatesh directed the Indian government and states to ban conversion therapy and to act against any person trying to "cure" homosexuality.
He recommended changes in university and school curriculums to stop the "foolish notion" that there was a "cure" for gender identity and sexual orientation.
He also called for a range of other measures to tackle discrimination, like gender-neutral bathrooms, improved counselling services, and better training for police.
The judge also suggested that "transgender" be an available gender option on application forms. "It is quite rare that any judge, let alone a judge sitting in a constitutional court, would undertake such an exercise," Mr Manuraj said.
Shusha and Sheema's parents were directed to attend counselling, but the judge accepted it did not change the "shame" they felt. The parents have not reconciled with their daughters.
"This court at least has the satisfaction of making all efforts to assuage their feelings," the judge wrote.
The young couple are, at least, grateful that their case could encourage others to not suffer in silence.
"We felt like we have created history," they wrote in an email to the ABC.
"We did not expect such a big judgement."
Gay Indians still targeted by 'exorcists' and 'shamans'
Sonia Singhal has applauded the Madras High Court's ruling, but she fears its rulings will have little impact beyond the state of Tamil Nadu, where Shusha and Sheema's case was heard.
"Decriminalisation has been done by [the] court, but there is no social awareness in India," she said.
| Sonia, who now works as an activist, reconciled with her mother after her father died. (ABC News: Som Patidar ) |
"I'm seeing daily that people are being thrown out of their house by their parents, and they are forced to accept prostitution to survive.
"It will take a long time."
Hindu mythology and epics have featured non-heterosexual characters, and transgender people were once revered. In present times, the blessings of 'hijras', who are part of India's transgender community, are considered sacred for special occasions, like childbirth or marriage.
Despite this, awareness in modern India about gender identity and sexual orientation is "limited" and heterosexual marriage "is still the unambiguous projected life goal", according to a qualitative study by the Asia Transgender Network.
The study included testimonials from five trans men and 15 trans women and found almost all had been subjected to violence at "the hands of their families, healthcare professionals, exorcists, shamans, [and] neighbours".
On the sides of the roads in cities and towns, unregulated self-proclaimed medical experts — or quacks — can offer unproven remedies for a range of ailments.
Some claim to have cures for homosexuality.
| Self-proclaimed medical experts set up shop in New Delhi and offer what they claim are "cures" for homosexuality. (ABC News: Som Patidar ) |
When the ABC visited five quack therapist tents around Delhi, two of them admitted to offering therapies to treat homosexuality.
"Normally, worried parents and relatives approach me seeking treatment and cure for their children," one operator, who spoke to the ABC on condition of anonymity, said.
"Homosexuality is a sex-related weakness, and its treatment is possible."
What next for gay rights in India?
Ensuring conversion therapy is outlawed across India could be a long and arduous process.
Creating laws in India is the realm of parliaments, but high courts, which sit below the Supreme Court, can make such a ruling by determining that the said ruling is upholding the country's constitution.
In the case of Shusha and Sheema, the judge referred to Article 14, "equality under the law", and Article 15, which forbids discrimination based on religion, caste, sex, or place of birth.
"This judge used the word 'sex' and expands it to read in sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity," Mr Manuraj said.
The judge also referred to a landmark Supreme Court case in 2018, which overturned British colonial-era laws that criminalised same-sex relations, stating that homosexuality was not unnatural, nor a "mental disorder or a disease".
While Justice N Anand Venkatesh did not attribute criminal liability to conversion therapy, Mr Manuraj said the court's findings set a powerful precedent that could be applied across the country, because it is a constitutional court.
| Lawyer Manuraj Shunmugasundaram helped a young gay couple get a protection order from their parents. (ABC News: Wilfred Thomas) |
"The trajectory of an equal rights movement has been progressing and we built upon that trajectory."
While the central government is yet to formally respond to the court detailing how, if at all, it will implement the judge's orders, there has been progress elsewhere.
India's top medical education regulatory body, the National Medical Commission, has said it will remove "unscientific" and "derogatory" information about the LGBTQI+ community from textbooks, scientific literature and government guidelines.
The LGBTQI+ community is also keenly watching other court cases, including at least eight petitions before the Delhi High Court seeking to legalise same-sex marriage. A court in Kerala is also examining conversion therapy after a woman's suicide.
"I hope we are on cusp of something great," Mr Manuraj Shunmugasundaram said.
Shusha and Sheema's case will return to the Madras High Court on December 23.
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