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What or who is queer? Can Rohin Bhatt define for us who that would be? he wants political quotas for these people, we should know who is and who isn't eligible. We should know if they are actually denied opportunities or if there are confounding factors. Is a straight woman with a blue short hair who prefers they pronouns queer? what about a brahmin man who wears eyeliner once in a while? If Ambani's son decided tomorrow he liked wearing lipstick now and then would he fall under the umbrella also? for a group thats so sold on intersectionality they never do consider their caste and class privilege do they? What is non-binary? its not intersex- thats a medical condition thats a difference in sexual development- non binary means something else no? In what material way does Rohin Bhatt think non binary is material or relevant? do they count as transgendered? or queer? isnt every person on the earth non binary because no one is stereotypically masculine/ feminine?
He says "self determination" should be proof of trans-ness. which essentially means- if someone says they are trans- just believe them. what that means is- they don't need a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, they don't need to have gone to therapy ever, they don't need to "live as the opposite sex" ever, and they don't need to get any surgery. Basically, any man, fully intact, can say- I am a woman- and then go into female-only prisons and rape and impregnate women there- Is this Bhatts goal? cause this has happened in prisons in California and in the UK. Do trans people claim their rights should trump the rights of natal females? how is this different from men claiming their rights are more important than women? cause all I see are males resenting the sex-based protections offered to females. What about quotas in parliament and quotas in educational institutions- Should self-id allow males to get spots that would have gone to females? What about censuses? should males be allowed to claim they are female on the census and skew data for women? where are the limits of this so-called "right to self-determination" ? all rights have limits no? we know this from law school no? your right ends where my nose begins that kind of thing? How far does this right go? if Bhatts answer is that there is no limit- hes not asking for rights and inclusion in society- hes asking for tyranny of minority.
he wants the government to invest in shelters and police sensitisation and all this to protect transgender persons from violence. No in principle disagreement- but can he tell us why this is so important? over a thirteen year period, ( between 2021-2008), there were only 103 transgender identified people murdered in this country. that comes to 8 murders a year roughly. there are 4.88 lakh trans people in india by the 2011 census. so thats a murder rate of 0000016. a negligible number that we should use how much resources over? where is this money to come from? does Bhatt want to take away from money thats spent on women and children? the femicide rate is four times higher? murder rates are not usually changeable- if theres a dead body the police are bound to investigate- this is not about underreporting.
If one does go into the weeds- one finds that the trans people that are murdered are usually engaged in prostitution when this happens. Is Bhatt willing to get trans people away from that life and into mainstream society where murder is not as common? or does he think "sex work is work" ?
When you come to other non murder crimes- the NCRB reported 236 reported crimes against transgenders in 2021. I don't take NCRB statistics at face value, but comparatively the number of crimes against women? 4,28,278 someone explain to me why we're focussing on the first as if the house is on fire while the latter figure is just normalised and a way of life for indian women? Rohin Bhatt undoubtedly wants women to be his allies- why doesnt he start by being an ally to women?
What is all this sensitisation supposed to tell the police anyway? that if males say they are women they are women - they just get to claim that identity like its putting on a costume- and that they are not just women but the most vulnerable women- despite enough evidence to the contrary? why? Cause he learned this dogma at some foreign law school?
Could he define for us what he thinks is homophobic or bullying? no one wants to see gay bashing- but is saying there are two sexes supposed to be a hate crime now? something I can be punished for in my school or in my work? its not enough to say vague things everyone agrees on- he needs to tell us the exact thing we are agreeing to and the exact way in which these rights are balanced.
He says he thinks conversion therapy should be discouraged- I would agree for gay men and women. Sure. But is pursuing talk therapy/ cognitive behavioural therapy/ explorative therapy for trans identified people - is that conversion therapy according to bhatt? He wants gender affirming care- but does he take into account the revelations of misconduct that have come out with the Shellenberger leak of the WPATH files? Does he take into account that prescribing puberty blockers is now banned by UK- which was earlier "woke" on these issues because evidence showed this was harming children who werent able to consent to it because they were children? that even scandinavian countries have moved away from the affirm-only dutch protocols because they found they were sterlising gay kids? Vikram Aditya Sahai in his NCERT guidelines prescribed that school teachers tell children about puberty blockers- a dangerous idea that shows little care or understanding of child development or medicine- is that also Bhatts agenda? What exactly is meant by "gender affirming care"?
What proof is there that this amorphous queer community is at greater risk of mental health problem and at greater risk than whom? and what proof is there that affirmative therapy is actually beneficial?
what does any of this have to do with annihilating caste? is bhat claiming only backward / scheduled castes are queer? or is he forcing this teaming so that the queer movement benefits from the sympathy that lefties have for backward castes and Dalits? Bhatt himself, and nearly all the queer people I know- come from incredibly caste-privileged backgrounds so exactly what are we doing with this forced teaming? Shall we do a socio-economic census of this "queer" group before we go about assuming they are held back in education or employment? shall we actually know what we're talking about instead of treating claims of victimisation and oppression as self-evident truth that is unquestionable? because thats just dogma?
Can he explain the exact provisions of the 2019 bill he has a problem with? cause im betting he just wants self id.
I have no in principle disagreement with a gay marriage law at all- but does bhatt consider this project as an exceptional step taken for LGBTQ people or does he consider this a part of a larger project to bring equality to marriage laws that ensures just laws for women? for people in all religions?
If Rohin Bhatt wants to move toward political action- he will have to prepare himself to deal with the interests of people who are not like him. And he will have to convince people who are not already bought into his ideology. Thats what politics is. Is he up to the task or will he simply accuse us all of bigotry?
https://twitter.com/BhattRohin/status/1769204714242232836