News Updates: Amidst Pride Month Queer Collectives are getting active in Colleges

Queer collectives on college campuses in India have given students permission to ask for all the necessary facilities. These facilities can include housing, mental health-related resources and community support. This comes after Pride Month is being celebrated around the world. But here’s how India has taken a stand on it.

A queer collective is an initiative made by colleges for students who identify themselves as LGBTIQ. These student networks help provide peer support, resources and a safe space for all gender and diverse students.

This is not the first time that such a step will be taken in India. Several college queer collectives in India have already been there for years, or decades in some cases. This has increased to the level, where they have become common. 

How Do These Collectives Operate?

Not all collectives work in the same manner. Some of them have executive committees which include office-bearing positions. While others prefer to work in a more decentralized manner, which includes help from a bunch of volunteers.

There are several schools and colleges in India that are working towards curtailing this inequality. These are Tagore International School, Jawaharlal Nehru University, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi and many others. These colleges celebrate and take Pride Month very seriously. Several events are held during this time of the month.

Laws Made By Government

According to the All India Survey on Higher Education report which came out in 2021. It mentioned that almost 4.1 crore students had enrolled in higher education in India. This is when there was no ruling on the Pride community.

In 2018, the Indian Supreme Court of India overturned Section 377 of the country’s penal code which had, then, criminalised homosexuality. 

Apart from this, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 also prohibits any act of discrimination against the transgender community. This law specifically pertains to any discrimination in an educational institute. 

Additionally, the government has also taken a stand against same-sex couples for having the full gamut of rights available to citizens of India. 

In this case, the college collectives are a good step for all those people belonging to gender and sexual minority communities.

If you are one of these students who belong to this community, then you can look out for these colleges. For more exciting news updates, make sure you contact Leverage Edu and study abroad blogs.