Fight for marriage equality, power of community libraries, taking sanitation to villages, finding freedom in sports: Top social stories this week

On October 17, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court declared that it cannot give legal sanction to same-sex marriages in India. In four separate judgments, the apex court said that while it would be incorrect to state that marriage is a static and unchanging institution, the court itself cannot make laws, putting the ball in the court of central and state governments.

Read more on this here.

Fighting the good fight: SC’s judgment on same-sex marriages

In light of the recent judgment, Dalit and transgender rights activist Grace Banu looks at all the precedents set by the apex court in favour of the LGBTQIA+ community and continues to demand better recognition.

She recalls the striking down of Section 377 and multiple rulings solemnising trans marriages, and questions why this progressive mindset could not be applied in the case of same-sex marriages too.

“For many queer persons from lower socio-economic homes who are abandoned by their biological families, schooling is interrupted, personal safety is violated and financial autonomy is never found. Given that these fundamental rights are still a distant dream, cohabiting with safety and acceptance in a rural or urban setting is a far cry,” she says.

A book for every child

In a remote village in the Jorhat district of Assam, a 29-year-old transwoman leader is ensuring every child has access to books. As someone who found freedom from bullying in the shelter of the school library growing up, Rituparna Neog now wants to pass on the gift of reading to the Adivasi children in her village. She has set up a free community library through her NGO Akam Foundation.

Her fight for equality extends to also creating vibrant feminist spaces of discussion for the queer community through an LGBTQIA+ group she spearheads, called the Drishti Collective. 

Creating zero-waste villages

Until six months ago, every adolescent girl and woman in the village of Mullikapatti in Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu had to walk out of their homes before the crack of dawn to relieve themselves. They also had no privacy or hygienic menstrual alternatives during their period.

Gramalaya, an NGO, has changed the fate of this village with its unique WASHMAN Project backed by the Bank of America. Under this initiative, 260 homes in Neppugai panchayat have spanking new toilets and bathrooms, and almost every woman in the menstrual age has been educated to shift to reusable cloth pads. 

“The WASHMAN project was conceptualised and designed to offer a multi-pronged approach to sanitation challenges in villages with less than 10% toilet coverage,” says S Damodaran, Founder and CEO of Gramalaya. 

In other good news… 

Weightlifting knows no age

Sixty-three-year-old Reeni Tharakan from Cherthala in Kerala won three gold at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia last week. 

She started powerlifting only four years ago in 2019 as part of her workouts, and took part in the Ernakulam district-level competition the same year. In the following years, her love for the sport brought her victories in state and national-level championships. 

According to a report by The New Indian Express, Reeni won gold in squat, bench press and deadlift last May at the Asia Masters Athletic Championships held in Alappuzha, Kerala. This helped her qualify for the world championship in Mongolia, where she was the overall champion in the 61-70 age category.

Turning the tides

Chennai’s 16-year-old Haresh Barath Mohan, who lives with Autism Spectrum Disorder, has achieved the lofty feat of swimming the 32-km Palk Strait from Sri Lanka to Rameswaram in 11 hours and 52 minutes. He began the swimming expedition at 11:37 pm from Talaimannar, Sri Lanka and reached Dhanushkodi, India at 11:29 am.

According to a report by The Times of India, Mohan swam through windy conditions, taking only short breaks to hydrate himself with tender coconut water. He is the second child with autism to swim across the strait in recent years. Mohan's achievement earned him a certificate from the Asia Book of Records.