Sangama is an

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

rights group based in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. When it began in 1999, Sangama acted as a documentation center but it has since grown to become an

rights and HIV prevention NGO that mobilizes against sexual harassment and discrimination and conducts HIV prevention seminars and programmes. The organization works with non-English speaking, working class sex workers and LGBT people and people living with HIV (PLHIV) in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

History

Sangama was founded in 1999 by Manohar Elavarthi as a center that provided counseling services to sexual minorities and research materials to scholars of LGBT issues in the

region. Other members in the first board included Arunesh Maiyer, Shubha Chacko and Arvind Narrain. Maiyer is the current president of the board from 2016. The organization hosted discussions that attracted social activists and English speaking LGBT individuals. Over the years, the organization expanded its scope from providing counseling services, to providing HIV/AIDS information, supporting the rights of transgender people through rallies and mobilization and acting as safe drop-in for LGBT individuals in

. The organization's human rights focus has encouraged its attention to focus on non-English speaking Kothis and Hijra's from underprivileged communities in India who are at risk of HIV and abuse.

Activities

Liaison with community groups

Sangama works with a few organizations in an HIV prevention project called Lasyakairali Pehchan. The project provides support to community based organizations on strategies to prevent HIV/AIDS in their respective LGBT communities. Samara a community based organization that implements HIV/AIDS prevention programs in the

Bangalore Urban District Bengaluru Urban district is the most densely populated of the thirty-one List of districts of Karnataka, districts that comprise the Indian state of Karnataka. It is surrounded by the Bengaluru Rural district on the east and north, the Ramanag ...

is an outgrowth of Sangama.

Outreach

Sangama established two outreach projects, one to reach gay individuals and the other to reach out to transgender people. Fieldworkers go to cruising joints to listen to problems faced by individuals and sex workers on the streets of Bangalore. The outreach programs helped Sangama gain more members for its drop-in sessions. In conjunction with the Karnataka Sex Workers Union and Pedestrian Films, Sangama released a feature-length movie, ''Let the butterflies fly'', in 2012. The movie was rejected at the Bangalore Film Festival but won an award at the Kashish Mumbai Festival.

Legal services

Sangama provides legal aid to sexual minorities who are abused and harassed by the police or charged with crimes due to their sexual orientation. Apart from legal services, the group also tracks police harassment and detention of LGBT individuals in Karnataka. In 2008, while going to a police station to support 5 hijras who were arrested, Sangama representatives were sent to another station where they were beaten. The organization continues to speak out about sexual discrimination and rights for transgender people in India.

Corona relief

With a donation of Rs.1.5 lakh from Arundhati Roy, Sangama collected about Rs.10 lakh to provide relief of Rs.2000 each to sex workers and trans persons in the districts of Bangalore Rural, Hasan, Bidar, Yadgir, Ramanagara, Haveri, Gadag, Raichur, Koppala, Kolar, Chikmagalur and Uttar Kannada. Two sex worker collectives Karnataka Sex Workers Union (KSWU) and Uttar Karnataka Mahila Ookutta (UKMO) helped with the distribution.

Reservation for Transgender in Karnataka

Following the advocacy efforts of Sangama, the Karnataka government amended recruitment rules in May 2021 to grant one per cent reservation to transgender persons in merit category, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and backward classes categories. Sangama and its programme officer Nisha Gulur approached High Court and the government revealed 13 May 2021 notification to the court.

References

{{reflist LGBTQ culture in India LGBTQ political advocacy groups in India 1999 establishments in Karnataka Organizations established in 1999