Amidst horrifying stories of discrimination and communal hatred, there is a ray of hope and cause for cheer. The 19-year-old transgender man, Shivy, who was hoodwinked and brought to India forcibly will go back home.
On Monday, The Indian Express reported, that the Delhi High Court directed the police to escort the teenager, who had been forcibly deprived of his identity and travel documents, to the Delhi Airport so that he could return to the US, where he lives and studies.
The High Court bench, which comprised of Justice Siddharth Mridul, anomg others, directed Shivy’s parents to stop harassing him.
Shivy is a green card holder and is an undergraduate at the University of Davis in California. His parents had moved to the US when he was five years old. He was brought to India in June on the false pretext of meeting his sick grandmother. Once in India, Shivy’s parents took away his passport and other documents, and enrolled him in a college in Agra so that he could “learn to act like a proper girl”.
Shivy escaped from Agra with the help of NGO activists and approached the high court for protection and the return of his identification and other documentation. The plea filed before the high court also alleged Uttar Pradesh police were harassing activists who helped Shivy. He had earlier made a public appeal to his parents:
Shivy’s mother, who appeared in court, returned all his travel documents and agreed to pay his tuition fee and financially support his studies in neurobiology. The family also bought his flight ticket to the US.
Justice Mridul directed Shivy would “travel unaccompanied and will not be subjected to any harassment by the extended family upon arrival in the United States of America”.
“Gender identity and sexual orientation are fundamental to the right of self-determination, dignity and freedom. These freedoms lie at the heart of personal autonomy and freedom of individuals. A transgender’s sense or experience of gender is integral to their core personality and sense of being. Insofar as I understand the law, everyone has a fundamental right to be recognised in their chosen gender,” noted the bench in its judgment.
Shivy and LGBTQI activists welcomed the judgment. He is looking forward to returning to the US. “My relationship with my parents is completely broken,” said Shivy, but expressed hope he would be able to continue to stay close to his 11-year-old brothers, who are “very socially aware and supportive” of his decisions.
Read The Quint’s report on Shivy’s story here.
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