College campuses homophobic: Study

LGBT think-tank does survey in top Indian colleges, finds that while peer acceptance is not much of worry, profs remain biased

Even as celebrations took place across the country to mark the second anniversary of the Delhi High Court judgment that decriminalised homosexual relationships, members of a think-tank for the LGBT community were busy putting finishing touches to a survey they recently conducted. The survey by MINGLE (Mission for Indian Gay and Lesbian Empowerment), a gay and lesbian think-tank formed a few months ago, has thrown light on a few shocking facts on the problems faced by LGBT students across campuses in the country. According to the survey, campuses across the country are largely homophobic and 85 per cent of the 272 respondents questioned said they had been at the receiving end of harassment and homophobic jokes on campus.


Still some way to go: Of the 272 respondents in the survey, 85 percent
said they had been at the receiving end of harassment and homophobic
jokes on campus. Representation pic

The survey, which interviewed both LGBT and heterosexual youths, was conducted in 28 colleges. Among the institutions where the study was done were IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, BITS Pilani, St Xavier's in Mumbai, universities of Pune, Mumbai and Delhi. The survey showed that while the heterosexual youth is more open to accepting the homosexuality of peers, students face problems in getting acceptance from their college authorities or professors.

Speaking on the results, Rahul Sharma, founder of queer students collective Queer Campus India who coordinated the survey in Delhi, said there were negative as well as positive lessons in the survey. "It reveals the changing perception when you see heterosexual youth, who respond that they would not mind having a homosexual friend, or when 55 per cent of LGBT people responded that they were accepted by friends and others said they were partially accepted, compared to only 6 per cent who said their friends rejected them. But it is disturbing when LGBT youth reported more percentage of harassment on campus or when most of them said they were the butt of jokes made by homophobic people," Sharma said.

He felt the survey shows the vulnerability of homosexual students on campus towards harassment and discrimination and the need for college authorities to step in and make some efforts towards equality. "We want college authorities to have an open mind and be accepting. In our survey we found that 21.4 per cent students reported that when they came out to their professors, they weren't accepted and faced discrimination. Many said they faced bullying on campus and so skipped college days," he said.

He opined that the reason behind most of this divide was that campuses do not discuss sexuality in open forums. "Our experience is that in colleges where sexuality is discussed through courses, discussions or workshops, a lot of misconceptions are cleared. People get more accepting, with mutual respect and understanding developing," he said.

The group plans to approach colleges with the results and ask them to start courses or workshops dealing with sexual orientation to promote openness. "The aim of the survey is to show college authorities the need for intervention and enlist their support in fighting discriminatory attitudes," said Udayan Dhar, the Bangalore-based convener of MINGLE.

'Homophobia among profs not surprising'
DR R Raj Rao, a professor of English at the University of Pune who introduced a course on LGBT writing, said he was not surprised that professors showed homophobia, as it exists in general society. "But there is also a brighter side; the scenario is changing a lot and people are coming around. When I wanted to start the course in the university, there was heavy resistance as people thought the course is irrelevant to students in India. But the popularity only grew by leaps and bounds. For example, 41 out of 60 students in Part II of the MA course opted to study LGBT writing in India."