In the wake of the demise of trans man bodybuilder Praveen Nath, Kerala-based youth organisation Dhisha has filed a complaint with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Social Justice Minister R Bindu, and Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Kant, seeking action against online news portals and transphobic individuals who allegedly pushed Praveen into taking the extreme step. Praveen, who was under treatment at the Thrissur Medical College Hospital following an attempted suicide, died on Thursday, May 4.
Meanwhile, the advent of a queerphobic youth organisation called ‘YES Kerala’, at a time when the state is still reeling from the shock of Praveen’s death, has become a cause for concern among LGBTQIA+ persons in the state. The organisation, which calls itself “anti-woke”, claims to have come together with the intention of “protecting the younger generation” from “wokeism” and “rainbow propaganda”. YES Kerala is an acronym for Youth Enrichment Society of Kerala. One of the ‘vice-presidents’ of the organisation’s state committee, Mathews K Luke, has been called out on Twitter (where he goes under an alternate name) for his severely queerphobic opinions and misinformed claims.
Several LGBTQIA+ persons and activists have spoken up against the organisation, accusing it of questioning and demeaning the very existence of a section of marginalised people. Sharing screenshots of the claims made by YES Kerala on Facebook, activist and actor Sheethal Shyam wrote, “These are the ones who should be answerable for these deaths. Those who murder people in the name of ‘social responsibility’.” Calling members of this organisation equivalent to racists, Bhim Army leader Mansoor Kochukadavu called for resistance against such attempts at any cost.
Similar queerphobic groups claiming to ‘protect culture’ and ‘enact social responsibility’ have mushroomed in Kerala before as well, many of them rooted in religious fundamentalism. Take for instance, the popular Youtube page ‘Unmasking Atheism’, an Islamic platform that speaks about Muslim morality on LGBTQIA+ identities and argues against LGBTQIA+ activism. “Homosexual thoughts are fine, but they should not be acted upon”, “trans persons should strive to follow their body and not their mind”, etc are some of the primary ‘teachings’ propagated by the channel.
“We are not against people who are going through these difficulties. This is a reality. We have no objections that their troubles should be solved. But we are against generalising this in a society, by breaking heteronormativity and bringing queer normativity. We are against queer activism. This will only trouble those who belong to this group. If we normalise these things, this will have big implications,” one of the proprietors of the YouTube channel, Abdulla Basil, has claimed.
This group has conducted classes for youngsters including medical students on LGBTQIA+ identities, and perpetuates false ideas that gender affirmation surgeries are a ‘trap’ and that trans persons who undergo surgeries become dissatisfied in future.
Another popular Islamic channel is run by MM Akbar, an Islamic preacher, in his own name. “We understand that homosexuality gets approved in the world as well as by the legal system. But it's a baseless argument. That is not natural. The basis of sex is reproduction. It's not hereditary. This LGBTQIA+ activism is politics. Politics is played by calling them a gender minority. We, who believe in morality, cannot accept it. Some who go through these situations need individual treatment,” MM Akbar says in one of his speeches.
In its complaint to the ministers and the DGP, Dhisha primarily raises two demands — (1) form a special team to investigate the role played by online media portals and individuals, who made remarks with the intention of insulting Praveen, in causing him mental trauma, and (2) to provide a warning through social media pages of the Kerala Police and various government departments that transphobic comments and news reports will be penalised as per the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act.
“Praveen was associated with Dhisha for defending the rights of the transgender community. He was also one among the petitioners who filed cases before the honourable High Court of Kerala, seeking directions for the issuance of guidelines for gender affirmation surgery (SRS),” says the complaint signed by advocate Dhanuja MS, secretary of Dhisha.
The complaint states that online portals are nowadays publishing false news without any reliable documents. This amounts to a violation of the right of privacy and affects people mentally, besides tarnishing their reputation and hard-earned respect before the public, it adds.
Defaming news published by some online portals were subsequently shared and commented upon by many people, the complaint says, adding it is reliably understood that Praveen died by suicide due to the mental trauma caused because of this. Such news articles and comments were made with an intention to insult and humiliate him in a public space and mentally harass him and this gravely affected him, it adds.
In a series of tweets, minister Bindu had condemned the transphobic behaviour of online news portals, stating that it is high time the media reconsider their race for sensationalism and put people above petty competitions. “Praveen Nath is a martyr, a constant reminder to those unwilling to accept that trans persons have as much right as each one of us to live here, alongside us, as part of the mainstream society. He is a reminder of a brand of rotten journalism that is complicit in this ignorance,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, Praveen’s brother Pushpan has alleged that Praveen used to be physically assaulted by his wife Rishana Aishu. Alleging that the young activist’s suicide was not because of cyberbullying but due to Rishana’s harassment, he said he will soon file a complaint against her.