On February 17, 2025 the official TN CPI(M) social media handles (X/Twitter | Facebook) posted a statement insisting on a separate policy for transgender persons in Tamil Nadu without any context. The same statement was also published on their website.
In its 2024 election manifesto, the CPI(M) made the following promises regarding LGBTQIA+ persons:
- Legal recognition and protection to same sex couples similar to marriage – ‘civil union’ / ‘same-sex-partnerships’, legislation/ s on similar lines as Special Marriage Act, 1954 so that the partner can be listed as a dependent, for inheritance, alimony in case of divorce etc.
- A comprehensive anti-discriminatory bill covering LGBTQ+.
- Reservation in education institutions; ensuring horizontal reservation in employment.
- Ensuring crimes against LGBTQ+ persons are treated on par with crimes against non-LGBTQ+ persons.
- Measures to address bullying, violence and harassment of gender non-conforming and LGBTQ+ students, staff and teachers in educational spaces; enforcement of UGC anti- ragging policy amendment (2016) that addresses ragging based on sexual orientation and gender identity, ensuring accessible and safe bathrooms for trans, intersex and gender non- conforming students, staff and faculty.
- Sex change surgeries of LGBTQI should not be done without their informed consent.
These promises were welcomed by the community who believed that the party’s stand will help address long standing discrimination and deep social stigma against vulnerable and marginalised communities in the society, and equitable and progressive solutions will be sought for the upliftment of all LGBTQIA+ persons.
However, the Tamil Nadu unit of the CPI(M) has recently issued an ambiguous statement calling for a separate policy for transgender persons in the state. This is a confusing and contradictory statement and comes from a place of ignorance and homophobia.
We, the people of the LGBTQIA+ community in Tamil Nadu demand the following clarifications from the party:
- What is the reasoning behind the abrupt statement which has created confusion and fear among LGBTQIA+ persons in Tamil Nadu who look to progressive parties to champion their rights?
- On what basis was this statement made? How many consultations and representations from the diverse LGBTQIA+ communities in the state was the TN CPI(M) a part of, to arrive at this conclusion?
- The statement mentions representations from ‘transgender groups’. Does this include transgender persons not part of NGOs/CBOs and feudal networks like the Jamaath?
- The statement makes a reference to “historical marginalisation of transgender persons”, justifying the demand for a separate policy for transgender persons. This raises many questions:
- Does the party believe that other identities under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella including lesbians, gays, bisexuals, intersex persons, queer persons, asexuals and others are not historically marginalised? If so, what is the evidence the party has to make this claim?
- When the party refers to ‘Thirunar’, is the party referring to all transgender persons including transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary persons, or is it only referring to a certain kind of transgender women?
- Is the party aware that the long standing demand of the LGBTQIA+ community to rename the Transgender Welfare Board in Tamil Nadu from ‘Thirunangai Nalavaariyam’ to ‘Thirunar Nalavaariyam’, to be inclusive of trans men as well, is being actively blocked by some NGOs, CBOs and feudal groups who claim to represent all trans and intersex persons in the state?
- What has been the party’s engagement with LGBTQIA+ communities at the national and state level? Have other units of the party issued similar statements?
- Has the party engaged with concerns of LGBTQIA+ persons in the year since the manifesto was released, in any instance other than this statement?
- What is the party’s stand on outdated practices of transgender kinship systems which are exploitative, feudal, and archaic, and amount to indentured labour?
- What is the engagement of CPI(M) Tamil Nadu unit with LGBTQIA+ communities so far?
Applying contemporary understandings and labels for historic communities and identities is counterproductive and hides more than it reveals. A present day lens cannot sufficiently cover attractions, behaviours, identities, expressions and orientations of people in the past. Terms such as heterosexual and homosexual, as well as attempts to otherise human beings based on their behaviours in their personal and sexual life, are by-products of the industrial revolution and the capitalist system it engendered. As such persons with same gender and sex attractions would have also been seen as ‘gender deviants’ in the past and face the same marginalisation that a certain section of trans women claim was perpetuated only against them.
We, the queer and transgender people of Tamil Nadu who are writing this open letter are aware of both the historical oppression that all queer persons have faced, as well as the lived realities of all sections of LGBTQIA+ persons today. We have read the unified policy draft that was put together by a committee comprising LGBTQIA+ persons, grassroots activists, legal experts and academicians. The committee held wide ranging consultations with, and sought inputs from LGBTQIA+ persons from all walks of life, their families, activists, media persons, professionals in various fields, to draw up this policy. It was made on orders of the Government of Tamil Nadu and was submitted to the state in April 2024. This draft provides for horizontal reservations for transgender women, transgender men and intersex persons; financial aid for transgender women, transgender men and intersex persons; and wide ranging protections against discrimination and violence for all LGBTQIA+ persons.
If the CPI(M) Tamil Nadu unit had read this draft, they would not conflate the need for a unified policy for a section of society that shares a common history of oppression, with the need for specific measures for parts of this community whose lived realities necessitate affirmative action.
Policy documents are roadmaps for the government, and promises made to the people. The Government of Tamil Nadu has one unified policy document for Adi Dravidar and Tribal welfare. Nobody believes that every issue faced by the groups served by the policy are the same, or that all the groups face all issues.
For the CPI(M) Tamil Nadu unit to not understand how divisive their insistence on separate policies for SOGIESC minorities is, can only be seen as wilful apathy and queerphobia.
We demand CPI(M) Tamil Nadu not to mimic the voices of feudal networks, and to engage with the wider LGBTQIA+ communities in Tamil Nadu.
