Tamil Nadu gazette publishes LGBTQIA+ glossary, Aug 2022
On Aug 20, 2022, the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette published a glossary of LGBTIQIA+ Tamil-English terms through G.O.(Ms).No.52, Social Welfare and Women Empowerment [SW3(1)] Department, dated 20.08.2022. A scan of the document may be viewed here.
The latest glossary (henceforth official glossary) is a marked improvement over the previous version drafted by the government. It largely adopts the community-preferred glossary developed by Queer Chennai Chronicles, Orinam and The News Minute, building on the work done by QCC-TNM media reference guide and Orinam’s terminology, and included by Justice Anand Venkatesh in one of the interim orders of the Sushma (2021) case.
A key difference is in the official glossary’s replacement of ‘Thirunar’, an umbrella term for transgender persons, with ‘maruviya paalinar/ maariya paalinar’. We invite reader comments and feedback on other changes: please reach us at [email protected].
Could you point me to guides for pronouns in Tamil. Have been asking for a gender neutral Tamil pronouns for the longest time!