Madras High Court Suggests Changes in School Syllabus for LGBTQIA+ Education of Students

While Pride Month celebration continues, Madras High Court has suggested measures to ensure that the LGBTQIA+ Community is brought into mainstream society. These suggestions have been recommended to sensitize people. One of the main reforms suggested was to inculcate changes in the school curriculum to educate students. The court has also issued a ban on medical attempts to ‘cure’ sexual orientation. These measures of sensitization are for branches of state like the Judiciary and Police. The judgment was rendered by Justice N Anand Venkatesh based on a plea filed by a lesbian couple seeking protection from their relatives.

Suggestions to Create Sensitivity Among Students About LGBTQIA+ Community

The Madras High Court in its judgement listed the following measure that can be used for creating sensitisation measures in educational institutes regarding the LGBTQIA+ community – 

1. “Parent Teachers Association” (PTA) meetings should be used to sensitize parents on issues of LGBTQIA+ community and gender nonconforming students so as to ensure supportive families.”
2. “Necessary amendments should be made to policies and resources to include students belonging to LGBTQIA+ community in all spheres of school and college life. In this regard, the following suggestions were issued:
   • Ensure that gender-neutral toilets are available for the gender-nonconforming student.
   • Transgender students’ academic records should have their names and genders changed.
   • Inclusion of a transgender gender column alongside the M and F gender columns on application forms for admission, competitive entrance tests, and so on.
   • Appointment of counselors who are LGBTQIA+ inclusive, for the staffs and students to address grievances, if any, and to provide effective solutions for the same.”
3. “The appropriate government shall take effective steps to implement measures in relation to transgender persons as stipulated by Chapter VI of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 and Rule 10 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020.”

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So this was all regarding this news blog on the changes in school syllabus for LGBTQIA+ education of students as suggested by the Madras High Court. We think it is a very bold and necessary initiative taken by the judiciary of the state. Hope you found this article to be informative. For more exciting content and news updates, follow  Leverage Edu on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.