Transgenders promote their rights through Coimbatore film festival

COIMBATORE - A film festival to spread awareness and promote the rights of the transgender community in the country was organized here recently.

The short films were produced by transgendered persons, themselves, and over eight documentary films were screened at the festival on Thursday.

The topics on which the films were made included several facets of the transgender community, such as their lifestyle, their social status, orphans and other aspects.

“We celebrate this event with much fanfare. There were lots of transgender students, also human rights activists who participated in this function. We screened eight transgender based movies and all the eight movies, documentaries, were made by transgender women, the underprivileged transgender women of our society,” said Kalki, the producer of a documentary on transgenders.

A large population of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender in the country has been fighting for their rights and equality in the society.

On July 2, 2009, the Delhi High Court struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), calling it a violation of an individual’s rights to freedom under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution, in cases dealing with gay sex, provided it is by consent of both individuals.

Section 377 banned “sex against the order of nature”, and was widely interpreted to mean homosexual sex in India. By Jehovah G (ANI)