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Synopsis: The social issues in India are not just societal problems, but also ingrained deepens our educational system.
Introduction
Recently National Medical Commission has issued an advisory to all medical universities and colleges. It asked them to bring changes in the teaching methods and opt methods that are not derogatory to the LGBTQIA+ community.
What is the discrimination faced by LGBTQIA+ in the medical profession?
The medical profession mostly treats homosexuality as an illness. This plays a significant role in the stigmatization of non-heterosexual identities. Madras High Court in its recent judgement also raised concerns as it tells “queerphobia continues to be rampant in medical education”
| Read more: Madras High Court guidelines for mainstreaming LGBTIQA+ community |
The medical curriculum describes lesbians as “mental degenerates” and force them to conversion therapy. There are various medical practices that continue to try to alter various sexual orientations instead of recognizing them as a normal variant of human sexuality. According to American Psychiatric Association, these kinds of treatments are unethical as they can cause depression and self-destructing behavior.
| Read more: Need to ban the Conversion therapy of the LGBTQIA+ community |
What needs to be done?
Our medical institutions still propagate the age-old band practices like the two-finger virginity test. So, change needs to be brought not just in the curriculum but in the mindset.
Source: This post is based on the article”Doctor cure thyself: On revising queerphobic medical textbooks” published in the Times of India on 16th October 2021.
