Legal aid clinic offers crucial support to Bengaluru's transgender community

Bengaluru: The Alternative Law Forum (ALF), in collaboration with Raahi, organised a legal aid clinic for transgender persons at its office here on Sunday.

Called 'People's Law Desk', the initiative offered free and confidential legal consultations to transgender individuals, especially those from socially and economically marginalised communities.

Advocate Harikrishnan, a member of the ALF legal team, told DH that the forum is a collective of human rights lawyers working since 2000. ALF focuses on using the law to promote social justice, with an emphasis on anti-discrimination, gender and sexuality, labour rights and constitutional freedoms.

Raahi, a crisis intervention and support group, works with queer and transgender persons across Karnataka, providing psychosocial support and community-based assistance.

Harikrishnan said that 13 transgender persons received legal consultations, while over 20 others registered for support. A team of four ALF lawyers conducted the sessions, addressing legal issues such as name and gender changes in documents, discrimination in housing, workplaces, and educational institutions, and incidents of police harassment and violence.

The clinic also guided participants on legal matters involving partnerships, adoption, domestic violence, civil union-style agreements, wills, and access to healthcare, including identity-based exclusion.

Harikrishnan underlined the initiative’s importance, saying many transgender individuals face systemic discrimination and legal barriers in every aspect of life, from identity documents to housing and employment.

"This clinic is a crucial step towards empowering them with the legal knowledge and support they need to assert their rights and live with dignity. The overwhelming response underscores the urgent need for such accessible legal resources,” he said.

Following the response, ALF and Raahi plan to conduct more legal aid clinic sessions in the coming months to widen their outreach and promote legal empowerment for trans and queer persons.