We, medical doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, counselors, hospital administrators, medical social workers, public health scientists, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals of/from India or of Indian origin, hereby call for greater sensitivity and non-judgmental approaches on the part of the medical establishment towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
We draw the attention of our colleagues to the fact that homosexuality is not considered a disorder by either the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10, World Health Organization) or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association). Attempts to convert homosexuals and bisexuals into heterosexuals go against the grain of our understanding of ethical medical science. However we in the healthcare community have had a hitherto silent engagement with the pain, harassment, fear and discrimination that comes with non-heterosexual and gender-variant clients' access to medical and health services.
As healthcare professionals and allies of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) community, we believe that our society must be able to provide healthcare for all members of its community according to their individual needs regardless of their gender-identity and sexual orientation, and notwithstanding our own personal belief systems and opinions. To bring about this change, we call for an end to homophobia, biphobia and transphobia (irrational fear of or prejudice towards LGBT people), and take an affirmative oath of action on the following items:
- We will not endorse attempts to change sexual orientation by reparative therapy or other means.
- We will not allow our own personal belief systems and judgments get in the way of offering sound medical advice
- In the case of transgender people seeking sex-reassignment surgery, we will adhere to internationally accepted standards of care.
- We will ensure that our healthcare settings provide an atmosphere of sensitivity and non-judgmental understanding towards LGBT people.
- We will strive to include content pertaining to sexual orientation and gender-identity issues in professional training programs, and have zero tolerance for homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in our practice and workplaces.
Kabir Sarin,
Shailly,
Ranjan,
D. Prakash MSc Applied Psychology,
Dr. Nandakumar,
Dr. Poorna Chandran,
sethuraman,
Sushant Hardikar,
Dr.Sriram, health
SmackieBoi,
Apoorva M.,
Sathish Kumar, SAATHII
Pallavi Banerjee,
B.Kumar, Chennai Injection Drug users Network
R.Shankar, Freedom Foundation
Dr. Susanta K. Swain, State Epidemiologist (NACO)
Dr.Puran Kumar Sharma, West Bengal Public Health & Administrative Service
BK Malhotra, PhD, Pfizer
Nasreen Ghani,
Dr Raman Khosla,
U.Vindhya, Centre for Economic and Social Studies
Dr Shalini Anant,
Emaya Anbalagan,
Dr. K. Swaminathan, SIAAP
Dr.Vani karthik,
Aaron Joshua Rusewelt, Aussi-CODES
Anu Somasundaram, SIAAP
shobha saxena,
Satish Joshi, Samraksha
amrita sengupta,
Dr daksh, IHBAS
Dr KARUN,
Sudhakar Krishnamurti, http://www.ANDROLOGY.com
Helmuth Wollmann,
Indhu S,
M.L. Prabakar, SIAAP
Dr.Priya Selvaraj, G.G.Hospital
Dr Nand Kishore, IHBAS, Delhi
Dr.P.Jayakumar,
Dr. Sai Subhasree Raghavan, SAATHII
prabha s. chandra, NIMHANS
Dr. Vikas Dhikav, Medisolutions
Saraswathi Vasudevan, Yogavahni
Nush, Psychologist
Dr Sheela Nambiar,
Dr. Lalit Narayan, Centre for Public Health and Equity
N.Balaji, SAATHII
P.Vadivelan, SAATHII
Sanchana V, Sydney,
Gurbeen Bhasin, Toronto, Canada, Aangen Community Centre
Williams.P, Karur, Tamilnadu, SAATHII
B. Inbaraj, Karur, Tamilnadu, SAATHII
L.Vijay Anand, Karur, Tamilnadu, SAATHII
S.Swaminathan, Karur, Tamilnadu, SAATHII
Geetanjali, India, AIIMS
Dr. Shyamanta Das, Guwahati, Assam, India, Gauhati Medical College Hospital, Guwahati, Assam, India
dr liton mallick, nepal, B P Koirala Institute of health sciences
Dr.b.k.banerjee, raipur, none
Dr Kushal Jain, Lund, Sweden, Division of Global Health & Social Medicine, Lund University, Sweden
Vijay Nagaswami, Chennai, India,
DR. D. Bhagabati, Guwahati, Gauhati Medical College
Jacob K John, Vellore, Christian Medical College, Vellore
Dr Alok Agrawal, New Delhi, AIIMS
Leslie Knechtel, Anaheim, CA,
Dr.shrigopal, New Delhi, AIIMS
Dr, Ravindra Rao, New Delhi, India, NACO
Dr. Pradipta Majumder, New Delhi, India, AIIMS
Firdaus Ali, Toronto, Canada, Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP)
dr.sameer, Pondicherry,
Dr. Atul Ambekar, New Delhi, AIIMS
preeti, chennai,
Bimal Charles, Chennai, APAC Project
Dr. Ranjit Mankeshwar, Bombay, India, Sir J.J. Hospital
Dr. Mitali Mohanty, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, SAATHII
Saravanamurthy, Chennai, India, SAATHII
S. Alwin, Chennai, IAPA
Mangalaparthi Ramesh, Hyderabad, LEPRA Society healthinaction
K. S. Jacob, Vellore, Christian Medical College, Vellore
Ramkumar, South India, PCI
siva, Canada , Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention
Rohit K Dasgupta, London, Kinaara
Pranaadhika Sinha Devburman, Kolkata, WB, India, Founder President - Elaan:Combat Child Sexual Abuse
Baneen Karachiwala, Bangalore, Belaku Trust
Dr. L. Ramakrishnan, Chennai, SAATHII
Supria Sarma, Newark, NJ, USA, FXB Center @ UMDNJ
Chitra Ahanthem, Manipur, none
Dr Ashok Agarwal, New Delhi,
Ragini Pasricha, Delhi,
sanyogita, Pune, CFAR
magdalene jeyarathnam, Chennai,
R Krithika, Chennai,
Asma, Chennai, Positiv+
Dr M Suresh Kumar, Chennai,
