Resisting Stigma and Homophobia: Lakshmi Narayan's Verdict, Hyderabad Panchayat
Director: Jeevanandhan Rajendran
Duration: 00:03:49; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 260.815; Saturation: 0.137; Lightness: 0.592; Volume: 0.167; Cuts per Minute: 0.261; Words per Minute: 10.974
Summary: Action Plus, a network of 14 organisations working on HIV/AIDS in India, conducted a series of People’s Panchayats in 2009, which sought to understand people's battles against Stigma and Homophobia through the voices of survivors and resistors. The Panchayats sought to address the devaluation of livelihoods and life systems of entire communities of people who practice alternate sexualities, and the erosion of rights or dignity.
This series of People’s Panchayats was held in five cities in India. The first one was in Bangalore on January 28, 2009, the second in Hyderabad on February 6, 2009, the third in Chennai on March 21, 2009 and the fourth on April 11, 2009 in Pune. The fifth and final one was held in New Delhi on April 24, 2009.
Each of the Panchayats followed a similar structure. The interactive meetings were structured to have affected members from sexual minority communities share their personal experiences of living with stigma and homophobia. These were the deposers. Then the two-member expert panel shared their thoughts and ideas based on their experience in the field. The audience comprising of the general public, NGOs, media, opinion leaders and religious communities made their queries and comments at the end of the deposition. There was a brief audience interaction following which the jury or the panch gave its ‘verdict’.
In this segment, Lakshmi Narayan, a member of the Hyderabad Panch, says that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code needs to be modified, and not scrapped.
Hyderabad, India
action plus
hyderabad
people's panchayats on resisting stigma and homophobia
section 377
Hyderabad
It is not possible to scrap Section 377 and it will lead to problems. Instead, I would say that it needs to be modified. What do we need to do to get these modifications done? Firstly, the society needs to accept this.
People's Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. In this segment, Lakshmi Narayan, a member of the Bangalore Panch, shares his view that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code needs to be modified, and not scrapped.
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