HIV/AIDS activism helps the marginalized emerge from shadows in India

published on September 15, 2013 in LA Times

NEW DELHI — Khushi Kumari had long kept her sexuality a secret, living alone like many of this sprawling city's gay, lesbian and transgender residents.

Today, Kumari, who was born male but lives as a woman, is out of the closet and has moved home with her family. "I said, 'Why hide it?'" Kumari explained one evening at Mitr Trust, an LGBT drop-in center in a bustling, working-class neighborhood of New Delhi. "It just made me depressed. I got mad hiding things all the time."

Kumari, wearing a brilliant yellow and green sari, gold-chain earrings and bright red fingernail polish, is a frequent visitor to Mitr, which she credits with giving her the confidence to live openly and seek medical care for her HIV infection. "Whatever you want to be, you can be here," she said.

Mitr, which means "friendship" in Hindi, was established to battle the spread of HIV/AIDS, as large boxes of condoms stacked in a corner attest. Its benefactors include a state health agency. But like many such community organizations, Mitr is also increasingly responsible for helping some of the most marginalized people emerge from society's shadows, providing medical care and financial counseling, even minting political activists.

Members of these groups now march annually through the streets of India's largest cities in World AIDS Day parades. In southern India, the nation's first transgender movie star runs a foundation devoted to empowering transgender Indians.

Noam N. Levey
LA Times
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HIV/AIDS activism helps the marginalized emerge from shadows in India

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