Renting a place still a nightmare for LGBTQs in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The members of the LGBTQ community in Hyderabad, especially male, have continued to find it almost impossible to rent a place to live in. A majority of the community members live under the constant threat of being evicted by their house owners, forcing them to lead a nomadic life. “Most of them hide their […]

Hyderabad: The members of the LGBTQ community in Hyderabad, especially male, have continued to find it almost impossible to rent a place to live in. A majority of the community members live under the constant threat of being evicted by their house owners, forcing them to lead a nomadic life.

“Most of them hide their identity, as many will not rent them the house if they know their actual identity. Once they get the house, they are in constant fear that they might have to vacate if anyone in the area comes to know about them,” says Vishnu Teja, LGBTQ rights activist.

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Recently, a Hyderabad techie, a transgender person, was harassed by members of the residential colony he lived in.

Narrating the horrific incident, he said: “I was assigned the male sex at the time of birth. Although I am a transgender, I haven’t yet gone for sex reassignment surgery. I dress up like a man to office though my personality is a little feminine. My neighbours didn’t like that and informed my home owner, who came to visit me and inspected my house including my personal belongings. The next day, about seven society members came to my house and threw all my belongings out of the balcony. The owner asked me to vacate immediately,” he said.

Scared and helpless, the victim called a few friends, who helped him get a new accommodation.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. A city-based sales executive, was asked to vacate his house after someone from the neighbourhood drew an obscene piece of graffiti on his door.

“He painted that I was a gay and other offensive things on my door while I was at work. Someone informed my owner, who without any discussion asked me to leave the apartment. At that moment, I wasn’t so sad about being homeless as I was about the way they treated me,” he said.

Sharing that many in the city have had similar experiences, Vishnu points out that while the law has certainly changed, by and large the society is yet to accept the LGBTQ community as their own.

“Due to similar incidents, many people are scared to live in one house for too long. They keep changing houses frequently so that their identity is not revealed. It”s almost like they are nomads. We are trying our best to help these people, but such incidents hit us hard,” he said.

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