I am working in India as a volunteer “Organization Development Advisor” and one of the small community based organizations (CBO) I am supporting is a support group for sexual minorities - mainly men who have sex with men (MSM). It is run by that community by men who have founded it out of grass roots need and passion to support others through the tirade of discrimination and stigma faced by sexual minorities in India.

The founder is a very talented and able 25 year old who also happens to be the first gay man to publicly declare his sexual preferences openly in Orissa (the State in which I am working). This cost him dearly in terms of rejection by family and friends - to the point where he became at one point quite suicidal. Through forming the CBO - those experiences are mitigated via a close-knit ‘family’ of like minded individuals supporting each other.

The name of the group is SAKHA. They aim to promote the rights and dignity of sexual minority populations affected by stigma and non-inclusion, and so improve their health and wellbeing. The group has over 500 members - which in itself is quite surprising (not that there are that many but that they are “out” enough to join the group).

India is slowly changing politically and socially in the way it approaches these issues. Having said that - there are certainly references and narratives in the cultural history of the nation where homosexual and transgender behaviour are featured and accepted.

See the full article on travelblog.org.