Madras High Court has taken a giant first step

This picture has been used for representational purpose

It is hurrah and historic time for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) community as Tamil Nadu is all set to be the first state to ban ‘conversion therapy' a procedure that some medical facilities as well as religious institutions offer to change the orientation of LGBTQ people.

Reports daubed in rainbow colours (rainbows are symbolic of diversity and therefore synonymous with the gay community) stated that the Madras High Court has pronounced some historic judgments and orders to ameliorate sufferings of the gay community and remove prejudice. Besides banning the ‘cure' it also said it was the state's duty to protect these couples and society needs to be educated and change how they view queers when a high court orders society to see this community through a more informed lens.

What is more uplifting is that in April, the judge himself had undergone an educational session with a psychologist to learn more about same-sex relationships. He exhorted people to become similarly informed. It is vital to disband myths and fallacies that foment ignorance and more dangerously hate and violence physical or mental abuse towards the community.

The cure or conversion therapy ban is much needed as we see gay people, cajoled, threatened, blackmailed into such ‘conversion' treatments, that shockingly exist everywhere. It begins with the attitude that a leaning towards the same sex person is an adolescent fantasy and the said person will grow out of it and become what people abhorrently like to call ‘normal'.

It is also heartening to see that the court recognises the importance of changing attitudes. While judgments and orders are one thing, change has to come on the ground, in daily life and that can only happen with a more sensitised society. Other states can take a cue from this one. There is a rainbow in the sky over Chennai.