Queer Non-Binary Lawyer Writes To Supreme Court For Infrastructural Inclusivity & LGBTQIA+ Representation On Gender Sensitisation Committee

Queer, non-binary lawyer Rohin Bhatt, while noting that with every passing day, more and more lawyers belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community are joining the legal profession in a letter to Supreme Court judge and chairperson of the gender sensitisation committee, Justice Hima Kohli, emphasised the need to “revisit the modes of organisational and spatial development that successfully resist homophobia/transphobia and their intersections with misogyny, casteism, racism, cultural chauvinism, and xenophobia”. Bhatt wrote:

“Having inclusive infrastructure in the Courts is vital to weaving the fabric of complex social life led by those of us that form the queer bar, and those that exist outside of the networks of privilege and power that are afforded to our cisgendered, heterosexual counterparts.”

“Steps will also have to be taken to ensure infrastructure to ensure that queer lawyers are able to practice before the court in an affirming manner,” Bhatt said. They have also revealed that despite writing to the Chief Justice to ensure that appearance slips for lawyers have a separate column for pronouns and that lawyers are not misgendered, the new Supreme Court portal does not have an option for advocates to include their pronouns. “I have often heard from fellow queer lawyers, whose prefixes have been either changed from ‘Mx.’ to ‘Ms.’, or their appearance has not been recorded in high courts,” Bhatt recalled. Besides this, they have also pointed out that the top court does not have a gender-neutral restroom, as a result of which transgender, non-binary, and gender non-confirming lawyers often find themselves without this essential facility.

Second, Bhatt called for greater gender representation on the gender sensitisation committee, which, alarmingly has no transgender persons. They have also highlighted the need to widen the scope of the committee to sensitising lawyers about and raising awareness regarding sexual orientation. Bhatt wrote:

“The committee consists of 11 members with representatives from the Supreme Court Bar Association, Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association, Supreme Court Bar Clerk’s Association. However, the membership has no representation of transgender persons from the bar, the bench, or the nominated members. As more and more lawyers who are openly queer join the bar, it becomes important to have members on the Gender Sensitisation Committee. This also calls for potentially widening the scope to Gender and Sexuality sensitisation.”

Bhatt has urged Justice Hima Kohli to take the following steps:

1. Broaden the scope of the Committee from being ‘Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee’ to ‘Gender and Sexuality Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee’.
2. Have a gender-neutral bathroom on every floor of the Supreme Court where there are men’s and women’s washrooms.
3. Have a member from the bar who belongs to the LGBTQIA+ community who can advocate for their needs and interests on the Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee.
4. Add a new column to the online appearance platform to ensure that advocates can mention their pronouns.

In conversation with LiveLaw, Bhatt spoke about their personal struggle as a queer, non-binary person who has to go to a non-inclusive workplace every day. “For so many of us who are lawyers, the Supreme Court is our workplace. We go there every day; we are on the premises from nine to four. The workplace is not inclusive – for women, for queer people, for Dalit lawyers.” They added, “All of these struggles are interlinked. This letter is a part of the struggle to make the courts more inclusive.”

Note: Rohin Bhatt, Advocate, Supreme Court goes by he/they pronouns.