CHENNAI: Fear of stigma has made gay students live in quiet desperation for many years, but they no longer have to, at least not on Madras campus. The institute is setting an example for other higher educational institutions, by reaching out to the sexual minority on campus, and is taking steps to help create awareness of homosexuality .

IIT-M recently came under flak for restricting the movement of women for security reasons. But, now the latest set of events has revealed the progressive side of the institute. In August 2011, IIT-Bombay became the first Indian educational institution to set up a support group for sexual minorities. It hasn’t happened yet at IIT-M, but there are positive trends.

“We’ve started an initiative hoping that students will come forward and open up about issues they face, and ask for help if they need any,” said Sivakumar M Srinivasan, chief advisor of Mitr, IIT-M’s guidance and counselling unit .

The institute felt the need to speak up for the LGBT community on campus after one gay student opened up to Mitr about difficulties faced by him in various situations last November. “This student was confident of handling the issues, but he said that there may be others like him, and they may be silently suffering and may need help,” said professor Srinivasan.

Mitr has planned a panel discussion on sexual minorities convened by L Ramakrishnan, country director (programmes and research) of NGO Saathi, in March. Mitr is also considering asking S Nivvedan, founder of Saathi, a support group for gay students in IIT-Bombay, to give a talk.

The institute is also encouraging students to discuss other sensitive issues, like substance abuse and sexual harassment faced by women on campus, that have so far been swept under the carpet. Students said that the best part is that the authorities are getting the help of students and seeking their opinion on activities planned.

The institute’s student’s magazine The Fifth Estate has been trying to bridge the gap between the management and the students. Executive editor of The Fifth Estate Anand Raj said that their ‘Need for Weed’ article on drug abuse was done after Mitr contacted alumni and faculty and asked if anybody would be willing to share their experience with the magazine.

“Even if students don’t turn up for discussions, many read about the topics online through the student’s magazine and it gets shared,” said a BTech student. Anand Raj, executive editor of The Fifth Estate, said, “A standard report gets viewed around 500 to 1,000 times on our site. Such good pieces get around 2,000 hits.”