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State human rights body issues summons to Bombay Gymkhana |
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 The Maharash-tra State Human Rights Commission on Wednesday issued summons to the Bombay Gymkhana, seeking its response on allegations that its management had asked transgender activist Laxmi Tripathi (31) to leave the club premises last week.
On April 2, Laxmi had been invited as a guest to a pre-event dinner of the TedX conference at the Bombay Gymkhana.
But the club's management told the host, Ajay Hattangadi, that his membership will be cancelled if Laxmi didn't leave the premises. All guests staged a walkout in support of her.
The state human rights body took suo moto cognisance of the issue and issued summons to the club, observing that it seemed there was discrimination against Laxmi.
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Shadow of AMU’s spy wing on Siras sting |
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 The death of Aligarh Muslim University reader S R Siras and the sting operation on him have brought into focus a shadowy intelligence unit inside the university that spies on students and teachers.
The third unnamed 'reporter' in the FIR lodged in the case filed by Siras is allegedly associated with the university's local intelligence unit (LIU), said a source.
An FIR has been registered against four AMU professors - Proctor Zubair Khan, Deputy Proctor Fareed Ahmad Khan, spokesperson Rahat Abrar and Media Adviser NAK Durrani - and three mediapersons, one unidentified, for forcefully landing up at Prof Siras's house and videographing him having sex with a rickshaw puller.
The LIU, besides having Proctors and Deputy Proctors at the top, has proctoral monitors and deputy proctoral monitors among the students who act as informers.
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Laxmi at the holy gates! Bombay Gym throws a fit |
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 135-year-old elite club throws out celebrity transgender activist, sparking outrage among a section of its members
While Mumbai's elite gentry, who call the Bombay Gymkhana their second home, may consider themselves the leaders of change in a newer, more liberal world, the 135-year-old club itself is more hesitant to embrace the changing times.
While Mumbai's elite gentry, who call the Bombay Gymkhana their second home, may consider themselves the leaders of change in a newer, more liberal world, the 135-year-old club itself is more hesitant to embrace the changing times.
While Mumbai's elite gentry, who call the Bombay Gymkhana their second home, may consider themselves the leaders of change in a newer, more liberal world, the 135-year-old club itself is more hesitant to embrace the changing times.
In an incident that has brought to light the fault lines of India's uncertain relationship with sexuality, the CEO of Bombay Gymkhana on Friday night stormed into a party hosted by one of its members, Ajay Hattangadi, and demanded that one of his guests, transgender activist Laxmi Tripathi, be asked to leave.
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Obama aide backs India's moves on homosexuality |
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 New Delhi : Two of India's most controversial moves to combat HIV/AIDS -- legalizing homosexuality and the plan to introduce sex education in schools -- has found some fresh support from Dr Helene Gayle, US president Barack Obama's chief adviser on HIV/AIDS.
Dr Gayle, who is in India, told TOI in an exclusive interview that both these strategies will help reduce the stigma against marginalized communities and also help demystify sex, thereby helping young Indians grow up to "become healthy sexual individuals".
She said that HIV numbers are constantly dipping in India -- both decrease in cases due to better interventions and better tools to reach realistic estimates.
"But India's decision to decriminalize homosexuality will greatly help reduce stigma and societal exclusion of populations like the gay community. This will lead to more people of marginalized communities coming out in the open allowing HIV interventions to reach them. Recognizing sexual diversity is vital for any country's fight against HIV."
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Laxmi hogging the limelight |
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 HYDERABAD: You cannot but notice Laxmi even when you are in a room crowded with people. There is an air of flamboyance about her.
Standing tall at 5'11, the lady loves attention and from the way she twists and twirls the black 'pallu' of her pearl-white sari, her curvy curls falling on her shoulders, she gets it.
A fluent English speaker, boisterous voice dominating her personality, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a transgender who knows what her purpose in life is and how to go about it. She isn't the conventional 'hijra' you encounter on and off.
Swimming against tide, she has carved a name for herself and today dons many hats. From leading a community-based organisation 'Astitva' that fights for rights of sexual minorities, she has appeared on numerous telly shows, holds the distinction of being the first transgender to represent the United Nation's Civil Society Task Force at UNAIDS conference, was a member of Bill Gates Foundation and a visiting faculty member at the School of Dance and theatre, Amsterdam.
Few know she is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and a choreographer.
"Dance was a good curtain to hide my sexuality," says the owner of nine dance schools, "Today it has become a platform to express my identity."
"People from my community are a discriminated lot. There is lot of stigma, discrimination, verbalisation, non-acceptance, people see through you, people don't want to relate to you," she says.
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South Asia 
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