Members of the homosexual, bisexual, and transgender community today staged a peaceful demonstration in front of a local Telugu TV channel office here seeking an apology for telecasting a 'sting operation' on homosexuals which, they said, contained defamatory comments.
Taking a leaf out of the 'Gandhigiri' mode of protest in the film Lage Raho Munnabhai, NGOs like Suraksha and Expressions placed some letters and flowers outside the TV channel's office at Banajara Hills, a participant said.
"Over 60 members of the LGBT community and other people assembled before the TV office this evening and held a peaceful protest seeking the TV channel's apology over broadcast of the programme," the participant said. "We also handed over a representation to the staff of the channel against the reportage."
According to the representation, the programme (a sting operation by the TV channel) contained several defamatory comments targeting the homosexual community and hunted down profiles of homosexual individuals from the internet.
"You aired not only their names and their photos, but also called them up in a clear attempt at entrapment and prodded them with leading questions about their private sexual lives," the letter said.
"Your channel has severely jeopardised the security, constitutionally protected liberties and freedoms, and fundamental rights to a life of dignity of the LGBT community in India and this act violates the community's right to live with dignity and feeds into a larger culture of homophobia," the letter said.
"The channel has caused irreparable injury and we demand an apology directed towards the innocent citizens with whom phone conversations were aired, as well as an apology towards the LGBT community at large. Further, we demand an assurance from your channel that such an incident will never be repeated," the letter added. (PTI)
