Sayantan Datta

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Monkeypox is not a “gay disease” but it is being painted that way worldwide

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was ravaging the world, a poster appeared in several places in Hyderabad, India. The poster warned, “Do not allow Kojjas, Hijras [an Indian transfeminine community] near the shops. If you talk to them or have sex with them, you will be infected with CoronaVirus. Beat & drive them away or call 100 [the emergency police contact in India] immediately. Save people from CoronaVirus Hijras. [sic]” Several transgender-rights activists took note, and eventually, the police responded by removing the posters and launching a probe to identify the miscreants. But, this was not the first time that marginalized communities – especially […]

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Mother accuses school of doing nothing to stop rampant bullying that led to her son’s suicide

On February 24 this year, Arvey Malhotra, a 15-year-old student of Delhi Public School, Faridabad, India died by suicide, allegedly after  anti-LGBTQ bullying and sexual assault at the hands of classmates. More than four months after his death, Aarti Malhotra, the deceased’s mother, has alleged that the school authorities, the police, and Child Welfare Committees did nothing to stop the harassment and violence. In his suicide note, Arvey had accused the school authorities of his death, especially then-Senior Academic Coordinator Mamata Gupta. The mother, then a teacher at the same school, told The Print in February that she faced harassment and threats when she […]