What does the LGBT community want politically? A Uniform Civil Code is the most important legal right for the majority, says a survey by Queer and Political, a political activity by the nation's LGBT community ahead of the general polls.
"A Uniform Civil Code will give the queer community better legal rights in areas of marriage and inheritance," says Pallav Patankar, who helms the collective. He adds that the data collected from the two-month online survey covering over 400 people will be circulated in the community. The results of the survey were discussed on Saturday at the office of the Humsafar Trust in Mumbai.
"The purpose of this exercise was to understand which political party will take up these issues," says Patankar, "The dream is to mobilize people to take up these issues with the local MP and MLA."
Gender neutral laws, adoption rights and marriage equality are the other rights the community considers important.
Patankar is aware that this is the opinion of only the internet-using population. "But it's a good way to start," he says. "We can now go forward and interact with political parties, and decide the future political path for the community."
Vivek Raj Anand, CEO of the Humsafar Trust, says this data will help them reach out to stakeholders with more confidence. "It will help us to make a point," he says, "during the various programs we have planned with several stakeholders, including politicians."
The survey also discussed discrimination faced by the community: only 8.96% per cent said they faced a high-level of discrimination while looking for a house, while 20 per cent faced mid-level discrimination. At the workplace, 16.42 per cent said they faced mid-level discrimination, while 9.85 per cent said they faced high-level discrimination. While interacting with government agencies (including police and judiciary) 21.19 per cent said they experienced mid-level discrimination and 15.22 per cent voted for high-level discrimination.
More than 400 people took part in the survey, of which 66 per cent were Cis Male, 9 per cent were Cis female, 10 per cent were Genderqueer, 5 per cent were Genderfluid and 2.24 per cent were heterosexual.
