Doctors in India tried to 'cure' her with conversion therapy. Now she's fighting in court to ban the practice
through religious rituals, “corrective” rape, and other forms of physical violence. Rajashree Raju, a Queerala board member who regularly assists survivors, says many people—practitioners and families alike—don’t see how such practices are forced upon individuals and are often incredibly harmful. “If there was a law against it, we can counter what is essentially harassment,” Raju says.to form new guidelines—consulting organizations like Queerala—around the practice.
Sajeesh’s refusal to undergo conversion therapy has permanently affected her relationship with her parents. She says she agreed to submit her recording to the court as Queerala’s co-petitioner to prevent it from happening to others, and to play her part in protecting the rights of her community. “It’s not a small thing to stop conversion therapy as such,” she says quietly and shrugs, “but you have to do whatever you can in your power.
The couple first spotted each other in July 2019, on a train carriage during their daily commute to work. Sajeesh, 25, works as a technician at an architectural firm, while Rajakumar, 30, is an accountant. “We used to stare at each other a lot. Then one day Meenakshi came up to me and said, ‘Why are you looking at me so much?’” Rajakumar recalls with a laugh.
Eventually, Sajeesh told her mother that she liked women. To her surprise, her mother responded nonchalantly: “It’s just a phase, if you don’t act on your feelings, it will go away in time,” she recalls her mother saying. But that changed when she brought Rajakumar home. “My mom began to cry and told me, ‘You can change this,’” she says. Soon after, her parents began discussing “cures” and treatments.
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