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When Siddharth’s (name changed) mother required round the clock medical attention at home, he preferred to have a trained gay nurse employed. Siddharth, a gay man in his mid 50s, said that his action was pushed by two main reasons. “It was my way of giving back to the community which has been my chosen family since the longest possible years. Also I found the man to be more receptive and sensitive as a caregiver to my mothers needs, ” he said. After a long and painful convalescence, when Siddharth’ mother no longer required a round the clock attendant, the nurse found employment with another gay man in similar condition solely through word of mouth. “As the gay community ages and gets old, it is necessary that the community puts in some sort of thought in preparing a line of caregivers,” he said.
It was the experience of people like Siddharth which got Anil Ukarande founder of Yutak to think about training members of the LGBTQ community in paramedical care. “As the community members grow old, the need for such care would be needed. Many might not have immediate caregivers which can pose problems for them. Also most of the skill training work for the community especially those for the transgender community are stereotypical – either they are trained for running beauty parlours or they are asked to be trained as mehndi artists.
Instead of giving into the stereotype we decided to get them trained as medical attendants,” he said.
Ukarande said many in the community do not have what can be called a family to fall back on. “‘Gay men have their family of choice and as they grow older, it becomes important for them to have a solid line of care givers. Our idea is to form this through this training,” he said.
The project which is being financed by Humsafar Trust and Plan India organisation saw the first batch of 25 members of the community get trained as paramedics. There were four other candidates which included a trans man who got trained as driving instructors.
Among the people who got trained as caregivers was a gay man in his mid 20s. While speaking to the Indian Express he said this training as a paramedic would help him upskill himself to have better job opportunities. “At present I am not able to get many opportunities, but hopefully this will be changed,” he said.
Ukarande said the first batch of the trained personnels would pass out by the end of July. While they will be working independently, Ukarande said they would be referred specially to community members who would require their services. “For reasons of privacy, their information will be kept private but in case someone from the community asks we can refer to them,” he said.
Ukarande went on to explain how many gay men form what is called family of choice. “While this concept is very common in the West, it’s still gaining ground in India, roughly translated, it would mean the family which the community builds around the friendships and relations they have. It’s our aim to make a strong family which would help gay men especially in case of medical care,” he said.
