Queer duo from Hyderabad create awareness about LGBTQ+ community

A Queer duo from Hyderabad is working to create awareness about LGBTQ+ and break all the stereotypes against the community.

The duo, Anil Kohl and Sandy, want to bring a change in society and create an equal space for the LGBTQ+ community in society. They have set up 'Mobbera Foundation' for this purpose and have been trying to create awareness amongst people about the LGBTQ+ community since 2015.

Sandy, the Founder and President of Mobbera Foundation said that he got the idea to start a platform for LGBTQ+ after he observed problems faced by this community.

"When I came to Hyderabad in 2013 from my home town in Jharkhand, I realised that people here were not very familiar with what LGBTQ+ is and they had very minimal knowledge. I have seen that people from this community have been facing a lot of issues with regard to finance, mental stability, and lack of support," Sandy told ANI.

"That is when I decided to start something, more like a platform for these people who lack support, that could help them identify themselves and just give them mental stability and a space to say that their existence is not a crime," he said.

Sandy recalled his personal experience of dealing with problems related to discrimination, lack of support, and a platform to speak and defend himself.

"I have realised that there are several others in the same society who might be facing the same problem and people from this LGBTQ+ community will be facing the same in the future if others lack knowledge about them. So, I don't want others to suffer like I have suffered and that is what this foundation does, create awareness among others about LGBTQ and to provide a support system for people from my community," Sandy added.

He stated that though there are several laws to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people and the scrapping of Article 377 has benefited people from this community. "Getting down Article 377 has given us right to be what we are but there are no laws that would mention about our social acceptance, civil rights, our marriage and divorce laws," said Sandy.

Speaking about the social acceptance of LGBTQ+, Sandy said, "Firstly, we were never taught that there are other genders in the same society other than just male and female. The basics of this must be rooted down in every education system."

"Speaking to ANI, Anil Kohl, the Co-Founder and Vice President of Mobbera Foundation said that there are nearly 63 members out of which nearly 70 per cent of the people belong to the community of LGBTQ+.

He mentioned that they have organised more than 200 awareness programs and activities since its inception.

"We are basically divided into 3 main chapters. 1st one focuses on Cultural Chapter wherein the Queer talent is encouraged. This cultural chapter is to show how normal it is to be what we are and it is definitely not a mental disability. In the second chapter, we focus more on building a common aspect of love amongst the people from LGBTQ+ and several orphanages, old age homes and many other centres where people are in dire need of love. The final chapter is called 'Guftagu' where speakers are invited to talk about several topics."

He further said that when people from the LGBTQ+ community realise their gender is different from what is taught in schools, they get traumatised and need support.

"When this support is not received from the closed ones, they might take adverse steps. To prevent that from happening, the foundation also has counselors to help them cope up with their situation," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor