“...ALL must be encouraged in an understanding of the fact that all human beings are born good, but they may be endowed with different gifts. Deviations from preset norms should not form the basis of ostracism. There should be no discrimination on the basis of one’s gender identity. We need to try to see it as a gift and not as a threat....” So said late Sister Marian Moriarty IBVM, a former superior general of the Loreto Sisters, when I met her about a decade ago. These words, coming from a devout Catholic, are indeed encouraging and would help in removing the misconception that religion goes against the so-called “out-of-line behavior.”

Yet discrimination and stigma in the name of tradition, religion or culture continues to plague the lives of LGBTIQ+ — lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, intersex, queer and other sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions — denying them the basic human rights to live with dignity and equality.