The Right to Healthcare for LGBTQIA Indians: A Relentless Fight towards Equality
By Guest Writers Srushti S Kekre* and Udisha Surana**
Of all forms of inequality, ‘injustice in healthcare’ is the most shocking and inhumane.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Since time immemorial, the LGBTQIA community has been subjected to regressive and dehumanizing practices. Pervasive intolerance and prejudice has forced them to live on the margins of society and fight for something as indispensable as healthcare.
The Indian healthcare system has historically functioned around a heteronormative mindset, actively dismissing the interests of people with gender diverse identities. Yet Article 14 of the Constitution of India guarantees protection against any discrimination on the basis of caste, race, gender and religion. Meanwhile, the Indian Supreme Court, in the landmark case of L.I.C of India v. Consumer Education and Research Centre, expressly applied the principles of equality to eliminate any form of discrimination and protect the right to health and adequate healthcare facilities.
Lamentably, bigotry has progressed to an extent where, throughout the Covid-19 global pandemic, the LGBTQIA community was intentionally...