CHENNAI: In the last couple of years, violence against women has been regularly reported and strategies to prevent these incidents are constantly being discussed across forums and panels. But, violence against the LGBTIQA+ community, despite being significant and serious, is often ignored. As part of its ‘16 days campaign against gender violence’, Prajnya, in association with Orinam collective, is bringing an open mic session, titled ‘Beyond Heteronormativity’ this Sunday.
Through personal narratives, it will explore creative expressions and also have a panel discussion on those who exist outside the gender norms.
Campaign associates Malavika Ravi from Prajnya and Ram from Orinam tell us about how the session aims to enhance the understanding of different gender-based phobias as forms of violence. “As part of our campaign this year, we are focusing on consent and violence. Though Prajnya primarily focuses on women’s issues, we also look at gender in a broader perspective which is beyond hetero-normativity,” shares Malavika.
While happy that Prajnya has a broader vision and understanding about gender-based violence, Ram adds, “The event is open only to those who register. So only the participants, who will mostly be from the community, service providers, volunteers and activists, will know the location of the venue,” shares Ram.
Ram points out that people from the LGBTQIA+ are targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. “We see things like homophobia and transphobia as manifestations of gender-based violence,” he says.
“There’s mainstream phobia against gay men because of gayness is often equated with femininity. This is a problem because feminity is considered inferior to masculinity. So, it’s the same system of sexism and misogyny that manifests in other forms of violence against LGBTIQA+ people,” he elucidates.
So, the focus is to be able to look beyond the mainstream structure that we see as hetero-normativity, which has only two genders, and each categorised under different stereotypes. “Also, there is a hetrosexist frame work — that only a man and a woman can be together.
People who choose to go out of this stereotype are penalised in many ways — socially, culturally and economically,” shares Ram.
Prajnya has also previously collaborated with Orinam and organised a series of skits followed by discussions on ‘Violence of the Norm’. “Orinam is a 14-year-old collective that has been in Chennai working on cultural and support-based activities. So, this is just another instance of a collaboration,” he says.
The campaign is part of a larger worldwide programme — The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign, which originated in 1991 as an initiative of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University. “We are looking to create awareness in a broader arena and people who want to learn about the issues and prejudice that people from LGBTIQA+ face, can be part of it too,” adds Malavika.
The open mic session will take place on Dec 3 from 3:30 pm onwards. To register, write to: orinam.net@gmail.com or prajnya.16days@gmail.com