Indian unis get gay-straight alliance
Less than two years after the Delhi High Court struck down India’s sodomy laws, an organisation fostering acceptance for GLBTI students is spreading across the country’s university campuses.
At Calcutta’s Presidential University, around 100 students have formed a gay-straight alliance group called Ardhek Akash, which also produces a magazine of the same name.
“Five years ago, most homosexual students or cross-dressers preferred to remain closeted, even on our campus,” student Chhandak Chatterjee told the Times of India.
“The reason was fear of ostracism. It is a crime to look down upon our college mates or force them into a corner just because they do not have heterosexual preferences.”
“We are happy to say that gay students sit around with their partners on the campus just as other students sit out with their opposite-sex partners,” Madhurima Ghosh, another member of the group, said, describing the change in attitude at the university.
In recent months the group has formed new chapters at Jadavpur University and St Xavier College — also in Calcutta — and is looking to expand further.
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