Congress’s AIPC sets up LGBTQIA+ vertical, appoints Mario da Penha as its chief
Mario da Penha said the creation of LGBTQIA+ vertical at a national level aligns with the party’s efforts to restructure with a focus on greater social inclusivity
NEW DELHI: The All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC) on Wednesday announced the appointment of queer activist and historian Mario da Penha as All India head of its newly created LGBTQIA+ vertical, a move that positions the Congress as the first national party to create a representative vertical specifically for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community.
Praveen Chakravarty, who heads AIPC, said the Congress not only wants social justice but also identity justice. “The message that Congress wants to send is that we want to ensure complete political representation for queer individuals unlike the BJP government who has taken away their rights with the most recent example being the National Medical Commission’s restoration of the outdated curriculum which villainises the queer community,” he said.
Penha added that the creation of the LGBTQIA+ vertical at a national level aligns with the party’s “ongoing efforts to restructure with a focus on greater social inclusivity.”
Last week, the Congress carried out a reshuffle which accommodated a large number of leaders from backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Over 50% of the 74 secretaries and joint secretaries are from the OBC, SC, and ST categories. Additionally, 12 Muslims and Christians have been appointed, representing 16% of these posts.
”This is the moment of shift for Congress. The Congress has not been wishy-washy about the terminology and has just gone and called it the LGBTQIA+ verticals. There’s no hiding behind a more palatable term. This is the structural change that the Congress has envisioned and the leadership knows it starts from within.”
Penha said while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) established an LGBT cell in 2020, the Congress was leading the way among national parties with a dedicated framework for LGBTQIA+ inclusion. “Currently, we are the only recognised national party that has some kind of framework for inclusion of queer people in its membership,” he said.
The vertical comes against the backdrop of Congress’s 2024 general election manifesto which promised to bring a law to legalise civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, a long-standing demand of the community. ”The formation of the vertical proves that Congress’ vision for the community is not limited towards securing a vote bank but also actually working for realising the goals of the manifesto,” said Penha.
It was during his time at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai in the 1990s that he took his early steps as a queer activist, a role that he continued through his tenure at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, and has since included crisis intervention for individuals facing violence. “I will bring with me the experience that also includes approaching first the Delhi High Court, and then the Supreme Court on the Section 377 and marriage equality cases,” he said.
Penha, who was previously appointed AIPC’s Maharashtra coordinator of LGBTQIA affairs committee in 2022, said steps taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party government appeared to be reactive measures rather than proactive steps.
For example, he argued that the move to allow joint bank accounts for queer couples does not provide any new protections and questioned its practical effectiveness. “Queer people have been going to banks and opening joint accounts with their partners, even before this circular came out,” he said. He also highlighted concerns about the circular on ration cards for the community, questioning how the government plans to define and recognise “queer couples” without a legal framework for marriage or civil partnerships.
Penha also criticised the National Medical Commission’s announcement on Tuesday to reintroduce ‘sodomy and lesbianism’ as unnatural sexual offences in the forensic medicine and toxicology curriculum for undergraduate medical students. The decision to reintroduce outdated and negative terminology, he said, describing it as a step back for medical education and LGBTQIA+ acceptance. “Who uses these words in 2024?” he questioned saying that it shows the disconnect of the government from the contemporary understanding of LGBTQIA+ issues.
Da Penha also addressed the importance of intersectionality in LGBTQIA+ advocacy. He acknowledged the diverse challenges faced by marginalised groups within the queer community, such as Dalit and Muslim queer individuals.
The Congress is not a party that’s going to stay quiet on queer issues, he said, praising the Congress’s openness and willingness to engage with queer communities.
“I was part of the manifesto consultations for the general election,” he said, recalling that he worked with 16 queer organisations to present their suggestions to the manifesto committee, which included prominent party members such as Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. This engagement led to the inclusion of support for civil unions in the Congress manifesto, reflecting a commitment to LGBTQIA+ rights that Penha insists are more than just “symbolic.”