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Unraveling the untold saga of LGBT people: A beginning towards new horizon

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Sancita Srivastava, a researcher at IIT Delhi tells how her current research on LGBTs can provide new directions to Indian researches focusing on the issues related to the community and how you can be a part of it too.

Talking about sex is still considered as a taboo in India, so expecting people talking openly about homosexuality and its related issues is difficult. The question comes in every mind, why is it so? Well! There could be many reasons one can give to rationalize one’s opinion in terms of straight or gay perspective. Due to the recent activities and efforts made by LGBT people, at least society is aware of their existence. This has also created a boundary between the world and the LGBT people and the world is seen in two ways only (gay world & straight world). Lot of misconceptions and phobias about LGBT people exist in India that influence nearly every setting like workplace, social relations, school environment, etc. Recently the change in Indian law by decriminalizing the IPC 377 is considered as biggest achievement and is a milestone in the struggle of social acceptance of homosexuality in India. In fact, it is believed to be renaissance for the social change in Indian value system. Surely it has an impact for the LGBT people per se, now they have an open existence in Indian society by getting approval in law. But is it really the current scenario? This question keeps on coming in my mind. Does existence in law change the thinking of traditional Indian mindsets? Does it really help people in coming out of the closet? Is it really breaking the barriers between the gay and heteroworld? Does it really help in bridging the gap between the LGBT people and the society? Undoubtedly, the world is changing and progressing in many ways towards understanding and respecting the diversity among the people in society. Still, a lot of questions in our mind remain unanswered. My research is a small initiative to find out the upshot of the changing law as well as the attitude of the society on the self acceptance and the coming out of the LGBT people. Present research is an attempt to understand misconceptions and stereotypes about the LGBT people prevalent in the society. This understanding will help me in developing interventions to minimize prevalent stereotypes and discrimination existing against homosexuals in India. This would not be possible without the support of the LGBT community people. As research targeting LGBT issues is scant within the Indian cultural milieu, this research would provide new directions to Indian researches focusing on the issues related to LGBT people.

Please benevolently participate in this research and make a significant contribution by adding your life experiences with this research.

About the Researcher: Sanchita Srivastava is pursuing PhD from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi under the supervision of Prof Purnima Singh. She is at present a UGC senior research fellow at IIT Delhi.

Methodology of the Research: The research has been divided into two sections:

a) Survey study: A survey study (quantitative study) targeting the responses of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender) people on a standardized questionnaire. This questionnaire is based on issues LGBT people have been facing or may expect to face while they come out to share their identity with others. The survey is also tapping the self perception about self acceptance about the sexual identity of the LGBT people.

b) Interview study: It is a qualitative study based on semi-structured interview method to capture the elaborative and significant life experiences of the LGBT people.

Terms of Participation:

  • All Indian LGBT people are welcome to participate in the research.
  • The research needs voluntary participation for the survey as well as for the interview. The participant can participate in both the studies or can participate in any one of the two studies independently.
  • Participation in all the modes is welcomed. The participant can anonymously participate and contribute by sharing their valuable life experiences. They can fill up the survey by directly clicking the URL of the survey or download the form which they can fill up and send via mail on the given postal address at the end of this page or send via email.
  • For the interview, all modes of participation are welcomed. The participant can meet the researcher in person and share their life experiences or can give their interview via phone, skype, gtalk, chat or share their blogs.
  • The confidentially would be maintained by the researcher. Everything related to the participant would be kept confidential and will remain between the researcher and the participant only. Under no circumstances their confidentiality will be shared with anyone.

Contact details of the Researcher:

Name: Sanchita Srivastava

Designation: Senior Research Fellow (UGC)

Mailing Address: Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Huaz Khas, New Delhi, India. Pincode: 110016

Email address: sanchitasrivastava@hss.iitd.ernet.in; sanchitasrivastava@yahoo.co.in

Phone No: Office: 011-26591367; Mobile: 09999893778

 

To participate in the survey please click on:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHZWazJ0Qnh1MloybWRuMHA5anhFT2c6MQ

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