Help just a call away for lesbians in trouble

Help just a call away for lesbians in trouble

For those who consider Chennai a conservative city, February 7 will give a reason to rethink. On that day, Chennai will become the first Indian city to have a dedicated helpline for lesbians. The number: 044-65515742.

An initiative of Indian Community Welfare Organisation (ICWO), a city-based NGO, with assistance from organisations like the Johannesberg-headquartered ActionAid and Bangalore-based sexual minorities-support group Sangama, the helpline will provide counselling, support and livelihood assistance. ICWO, which has been working for sexual minorities like men-seeking-men and the transgendered, feels the helpline will help lesbians come out in the open.

Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore have lesbian support groups, and their office telephones double up as helplines. This will be the first time a city will have a dedicated line for lesbians. Even as gays and the transgendered have slowly come out of their closets, lesbians in the city remain unseen. The city woke up on May 17 last year to the shocking news of two lesbians, Christy and Rukmini, setting themselves on fire, unable to bear the social stigma.

The helpline will help fight this stigma, but it has to earn the confidence of lesbians, some of whom may be married and leading an apparently normal life.

thts a real good thing .......!!!!

atleast these lesbians can live freely now without any fear.....!!!!