As International Pride Month celebrations kick off today, it's time to show up for the community in their time of need — when their clinic and safe space is at risk of shutting down due to funds crunch
A patient waits for a six-month checkup. Pic/Kirti Surve Parade
Seven rooms on the third floor encompassing the Sahyog Clinic at Vakola seem to hold a universe, as people walk in with rainbow pins and open smiles. The clinic, started by the Humsafar Trust, is a haven for LGBTQiA+ community members, for whom it is still next to impossible to find queer-friendly doctors in the city.
Upon a closer look, you will see the smiles have now begun to falter, especially among the staff. Amid a funding crunch, the clinic now finds itself on the brink of shutting down most of its services, especially the critical mental health wing.
Malini Mohite works as the senior counsellor in HIV+ cases, as well as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI), and has been associated with the clinic for the last 20 years. “Our HIV+ testing is linked with the BMC, so the pre-testing and post-detection [if tested positive] counselling — where we tell them how often to take the medication — will continue. But other facilities, such as our dermatologist and nutritionist’s services, as well as the monthly nutrition kits for people living with HIV [PLHIV] have already been hit,” says Mohite.
Senior counsellor for HIV+ Malini Mohite says that many queer folk feel comfortable as they aren’t judged
It all came crashing down in early April, when Humsafar’s Chief Executive Officer, Vivek Anand, learnt that most of the donors were withdrawing their support in what seems to align with a global pattern of a crunch in grants.
“We are seeing a global effect of private and government withdrawal of funds from community organisations, including Sahyog, that are providing critical services,” he says.
The clinic provides crucial support to the queer community not just in Mumbai, but has also expanded to Guwahati, Gangtok, Delhi, Amritsar and Nagpur over the years. In an effort to drum up some support from corporates and save the initiative from extinction, Humsafar’s founders and veterans of the queer outreach movement in the city have organised a walkathon in the city today.
“We are struggling, our core competence services are in question but we haven’t given up hope. We are reaching out to our communities with a plea for support.” Anand says in a voice that belies weathered determination.
Talking about today’s walkathon, Anand admits that since the news of funding drying up broke in April, this is the first time they are letting the community know just how dire the situation is. “We didn’t want to sound the alarm bells prematurely, we were hoping for some solution but we can’t afford that luxury
any more,” he adds.
Santosh Karambe, aka Amba, is well admired among the clinic’s staff for being meticulous. The healthcare facilitator, who has been working with the clinic for 23 years, works with over 90 PLHIVs. Their work diary has exhaustive details about which PLHIV is scheduled to come in for a visit, or who may run out of medication soon. To help the patient remember their date with the clinic, Amba started a system of writing the date of the next visit inside their medicine bottle’s cap. “Many of them tend to forget their appointment. This way, when they take their tablet every day, they are reminded about the next scheduled visit,” says Amba.
Santosh Karambe, healthcare facilitator helps PLHIVs keep track of their next visit by marking the inside of medicine bottle’s cap
But they go a step further for those patients who are not open with their families about their HIV+ status. “I follow up every day, starting 10 days before their appointment,” Amba says, “One of them is a sex worker who was jailed for the last 15 days. She just got out yesterday. I kept calling her because she had missed her doses, but she finally picked up yesterday.”
This emotional investment in each patient’s care is what makes Sahyog a much-appreciated safe space for the queer community.
“People must understand that by the time we knock on the doors of a space like Sahyog, as a queer person who has tested positive for HIV, we have come here with no support back home,” says Kalyani, who identifies as an MSM (men who have sex with men) and PLHIV. “We have lost friends and family, there is a lot of taboo [around HIV] within the community as well.”
Kalyani, 52, is the president of Sanjeevni, Humsafar’s in-house support group for LGBTQiA+ folk who are PLHIV. He was diagnosed in the late 1990s, when he was 21 years old: “I had gotten tested at a civic hospital, and when I heard the news, I walked up to the floor above with the intention of jumping off. Thank god the
door was locked.”
Emphasising how big a difference proper counselling can make, Kalyani says, “If a person goes to overburdened civic hospitals, they are just told, like I was, that they are HIV+ and that they have to take so-and-so medications. It’s overwhelming for many.”
“When they come to Sanjeevni, we tell them they must take their medication the same way someone with diabetes or high/low blood pressure takes a pill every day. We don’t say ‘go and talk to the psychiatrist or mental health expert’, because that spooks them. We tell them they need to speak to someone who has experience in this field. For STIs, we tell them to speak to someone who has worked with other people who have STIs too. We explain why skin lesions have appeared, and try to not lead them into panic,” he adds.
The Sahyog clinic in Gangtok during a safe sex workshop for the community
Back at the clinic, we meet another of Amba’s clients, Babu, a PLHIV from Santacruz who was diagnosed in 2010. “This place is like family; they are my support system. They came and advocated for me when I needed a cataract operation but the hospital was extremely hesitant to go ahead after they learnt
about my HIV+ status.”
One of the key people in the HIV+ arm of the clinic is Rakesh Thorat, the lab in-charge who is all heart while drawing blood from Paresh for his six-monthly work-up. “It’s a bit scary to consider that this safe space we have created for the community is in danger,” Thorat says, her gorgeous mascara in danger of running as she tears up.
The clinic deals with a high incidence of STIs like human papillomavirus (HPV) and/or syphilis. Most cases are among young queer folk who have just begun exploring their sexuality, says Dr Vinayak Jadhav, the clinic’s general physician.
Many queer folk in Gangtok travel from other districts to the clinic due to the anonymity it provides
Jadhav who visits the clinic two days out of the week is not a member of the LGBTQiA+ community, but has been a long-standing ally. “Many doctors in BMC hospitals are not sensitised about how to talk to the LGBTQiA+ community. I was lucky as my mentor sensitised me as a young MBBS student,” he says.
Jadhav tells it like it is, sans judgment: “It is true that the community sees a lot of STIs, which is why clinics like these are important. We tell them how to practise safe sex without sanitising the language, but while maintaining sensitivity as well. Additionally, we insist on them getting their sex partner to the clinic so that we can initiate contact tracing and mitigate it.”
The clinic has already had to let go of the nutritionist and endocrinologist, as well as limit the dermatology services from weekly to bi-monthly, informs Sumi MK, the assistant health manager of the clinic. All these services, along with the HIV+ clinic, are free of charge at Sahyog.
Sumi MK, the assistant health manager of Vakola Sahyog Clinic is trying to keep up the spirits of the community and staff in these dire times. Pics/Kirti Surve Parade
The clinic has also been unable to provide the monthly nutritional kits for the last three months as the funding began drying up. The kit contains items like soya bean, chickpeas, and peanuts, that are known to boost immunity.
“This is an extremely important service for PLHIV and those who have been diagnosed with STIs. Many PLHIV develop skin lesions, because of which they are in pain. But they don’t have the money to consult a dermat or even a nutritionist,” she says.
Mohite cuts in, “Many people do not consult dermats outside Sahyog because of the shaming by these doctors.”
It’s not just the queer community that benefits from the clinic, it serves anyone who walks through its doors — a testament to the Trust’s belief that everyone is equal.
Awkash, 55, will vouch for this belief system. Detected as HIV+ in 2011, he has been associated with the clinic ever since.
“When I first came here, I was welcomed and could talk openly without fear. Ever since the nutrition kits have stopped, it has taken a toll on my health. I feel tired even quicker than usual. The kit also helped my wife, who is living with HIV too, so it’s been a few bleak months,” he says.
Owen John, 77, is a recovering alcoholic and PLHIV and often hangs out with Amba and the rest of the gang at the clinic. He recently suffered a paralytic attack on the right side of his body and consulted with others about what treatment to go for. “When youngsters test positive for HIV at 18-19 years, I tell them that even I am positive — it’s not the end for them,” he says, giving “positive uncle” vibes.
Owen Jones
Reneir Bhat is the only full-time mental health professional on staff now, and another psychiatrist who visits twice weekly is in danger of being discontinued. “I think a lot of times young people who have either tested positive [for HIV] or have relationship issues just want someone to vent to. They need someone to hear them out, while they sit with the situation and let it set in. With that small assistance, they soon realise how to move forward,” they say.
As we wrap up our visit to the clinic, Mohite begins to tear up and reaches for the tissue paper that she has gently handed out to others at the clinic for the past two decades. “Humko daya nahi chahiye [we don’t want pity],” she says trying to catch her breath.
It’s not about money; as a member of the kinnar community, she has another support system to fall back on. Rather it’s about the dignity of her current job and the satisfaction in helping so many. She rues, “We will manage, clap our hands and earn again, but what about the kids who come here? No one understands us like us.”
Rudrani Chhetri; Mohini Mahant; Awkash; Reneir Bhat
50
Weekly footfall at the Sahyog clinic at Vakola
Giving Sahyog across the nation
Parseen Naushad
Clinic Coordinator, Sahyog Guwahati
We started operations [in Guwahati] in 2022 and conduct testing for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and have a visiting general physician, clinical psychologist, and dermatologist. The psychiatrist, endocrinologist, and nutritionist had to be let go in April itself. We have been told that we might not be open in June and we have started to inform our clients too
Rudrani Chhetri
Managing Trustee, Mitr Trust, Delhi
Sahyog’s USP is that above and beyond the treatment for HIV, STIs, it provides crucial mental health support which is very difficult for the queer community to access otherwise. It is unfair that funding is being pulled and the one place that people from the community can turn to in Delhi is at risk of being shut down
Aniket Gupta
Clinic Coordinator, Sahyog Clinic Gangtok
We just started last year in Gangtok. We don’t have hubs for the community, so we have been reaching out through Grindr and encouraging them to come and get checked. Most don’t want to get tested in their local area because of the fear of being recognised, so the clinic is essential. But, we are unsure of
the future
Mohini Mahant
Project Director, Mansa Foundation Welfare Society, Amritsar
I won’t let the services shut. I am asking doctors to come and help us with the goodwill I have earned in Amritsar over the years. Our counsellor is still visiting twice a week from Chandigarh at his own cost. Whatever support Humsafar was able to give us is completely gone, and we are managing solely on my organisation’s
funds. We cannot leave the community on their own
Walk the talk as an ally
Those who’d like to show support for Humsafar Trust’s initiatives can join the 3-km walkathon that kicks off at 6.30 am from Bandra Fort, heading towards Bandstand at the back via Bhabha road. Sponsored by Future Generali India Insurance, the event will end at Bandra Taj Lands End with breakfast at 9.30 am for those who pre-registered.
“At Future Generali India Insurance, inclusion isn’t just a checkbox — it’s who we are and what we believe in. We’ve been proudly walking the talk as an ally to the LGBTQiA+ community over the years. Our latest initiative, Walk with Pride — India’s largest corporate Pride Walkathon — isn’t just a walk for us; it’s a stride towards a future where dignity and inclusion are non-negotiable,” Ruchika Verma, chief marketing, customer and impact officer, tells us.
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