Kerala High Court orders parents, sister of 21-year-old to undergo counseling to understand, accept gender identity

The Kerala High Court recently directed the parents of a 21-year-old person to undergo counseling in order to understand the concept of gender identity..A division bench of Justices Anu Sivaraman and C Jayachandran issued the order on a habeas corpus plea moved by the parents alleging that an organisation called Sahayathrika had illegally detained their "daughter" (as referred to in their petition).Sahayathrika is an organisation catering to the needs of lesbian/bisexual women and transgender persons in Kerala. However, when the bench interacted with the detained person, it was informed that there was no illegal detention and that Sahayathrika was merely helping the person navigate gender identity. The bench also interacted with the person's parents and sister. It opined that the parents and sister need counselling to understand and accept the concept of gender identity and ordered the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Alapuzha to arrange appropriate counselling for them."Having interacted with the petitioners and their children, we are of the opinion that the petitioners also require a counselling to accept the factum of the different gender identity, which the alleged detenue seeks to express. We therefore direct the Secretary, DLSA, Alappuzha to take appropriate steps to identify a proper person for interaction and counselling with petitioners for the specific purpose as stated above", the order stated.The bench permitted the alleged detenue to return with Sahayathrika and ordered the parents and sister to appear before the DLSA on September 20..On a related note, the Delhi High Court had recently ordered counselling for the parents of a 22-year-old lesbian woman to help them accept their daughter “as per her wishes.” However, despite counselling, the parents refused to accept their daugther's sexual orientation. The Court permitted her to stay with her partner, stating that she cannot be forced to live somewhere against her wishes. .[Read Order]