“Equality hurts no one.”

The struggle of the LGBTQA+ community is very apparent from the very beginning. From the stage of neglect and hatred to getting recognition and rights the journey has been long. Rohin Bhatt, a queer lawyer has pointed out infrastructural problems faced by queer lawyers practising in the Supreme Court as well as the lack of representation on the Gender Sensitisation Committee. “Having the inclusive infrastructure in the Courts is vital to weaving the fabric of complex social life led by those of us that form the queer bar, and those that exist outside of the networks of privilege and power that are afforded to ourcis-genderedd, heterosexual counterparts,” he added in his letter.

In his letter addressed to Justice Hima Kohli, he urged to take the following steps:

• Broaden the scope of the Committee from being ‘Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee’ to ‘Gender and Sexuality Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee’.

• Have a gender-neutral bathroom on every floor of the Supreme Court where there are men’s and women’s washrooms.

• Have a member from the bar who belongs to the LGBTQIA+ community who can advocate for their needs and interests on the Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee.

• Add a new column to the online appearance platform to ensure that advocates can mention their pronouns. 

In the letter, he has also shown concern over problematic practice whereby the prefixes of queer lawyers are often changed from the gender-neutral prefix of ‘Mx.’ to ‘Ms.’, or their appearances are not recorded in high courts. He quoted “To envision a truly inclusive bar for the future, the Supreme Court must revisit the modes of organizational and spatial development that successfully resist homophobia/transphobia and their intersections with misogyny, casteism, racism, cultural chauvinism, and xenophobia.”