Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): With the assembly elections round the corner, the political landscape in the state is heating up and diverse voices including those from the LGBTQ+ community are making their presence felt by highlighting their expectations. LGBTQ+ individuals are expressing their desire for increased representation in the government and political leadership roles, ensuring that their concerns are heard and addressed at the policymaking level.
Bhopal’s LGBTQ community member Simi Agrawal and Kaynat Mirza are urging political candidates to address the specific challenges faced by transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. When Free Press asked them what do they expect from the new government, Mirza said that, ‘Our demands were never fulfilled by the government. If they aren’t going to listen then what’s the use of demanding something? We are the citizens of this country but unlike others, we don’t have access to Aadhaar Cards. We too want to have our identity cards, access to jobs and all those basic amenities which an ordinary citizen enjoys, Kaynat added.
Simi Agrawal said LGBTQ+ community is an amalgamation of people from all sections or castes of society. So we deserve equality and inclusivity from the Government. Kaynat Mirza and Simi Agarwal also confirmed that this time no one from their community is contesting the election. Kaynat said that, till now there’s no update about this. But I wanted someone from our community should contest the election. The latter said, this time no one is contesting from our side, but we want whoever wins should not ignore our community or our people.
