A popular deemed-to-be university in southeast Bengaluru was recently in the news for sending a non-binary person (biologically female) home for wearing a lungi to the ethnic day celebrations on the campus. Similar dress coding instances and heteronormative culture in educational institutions begs the question of how inclusive colleges and universities in Bengaluru are, especially when it comes to the queer community.
Interactions with students, faculty members and managements of different educational institutions revealed that while a few institutions have led the way with gender neutral washrooms, pride clubs and on-campus counsellors, others have a long way to go, even with basic things like understanding pronouns.
Kiran Jeevan, Placements and Public Relations Officer, St Joseph’s University, said, “Our university is very inclusive. The preferred pronoun of every person is provided along with their programme details. We invite gay and transgender activists, and ensure that there is enough sensitisation on campus. We also have gender neutral washrooms (with no signage) on campus.”
