It’s Pride Month! A celebration of the LGBTQI community's rights and culture. Just like every year during June, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI) community is celebrating gender diversity and advocating equality with the same glory, dignity, and harmony.
Meanwhile, social media campaigns help normalise and celebrate the existence of LGBTQI individuals who are an integral part of our society.
The Indian aviation sector, the world's third-largest civil market, has embraced the same approach to convey its support for the LGBTQI community. Several major airlines, including Indigo, GoAir, SpiceJet, and Air Asia India, have shared "rainbow graphics" on social media to celebrate and honour the LGBT community.
The government and various non-governmental organisations are doing their utmost to raise understanding and acceptance of the LGBTQ population; yet, some families are still hesitant and ostracise trans children.
Adam Harry, 20, faced a similar path when his family rejected him because he was transgender. Harry, from Thrissur in Kerala, holds a private pilot's certificate and aims to be a commercial pilot. However, because he has no financial assistance from his family, the Kerala government's social justice department has stepped in to assist him.
It has approved a grant of Rs 23.34 lakh to Adam to assist him to complete a three-year study at the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology in Thiruvananthapuram. With this, Harry will become the country's first transgender commercial pilot. Adam proves to be a true inspiration and motivation for other people belonging to the LGBTQI community. Adam surely established a sense of belonging for transgender people in society.
Source: www.google.com
However, none of the airlines in India provide 'Transgender' as a gender choice while bookings where a 'title’ is to be specified, nor do they offer gender-neutral titles like 'Mx.', which compels transgender people to book flights with an inaccurate gender selection or a title that does not reflect their authentic identity.
Furthermore, despite the aviation industry's efforts to debunk the myth that cabin crew is just for women, most airlines do not hire transgender people for cabin crew positions since most airlines do not include a transgender category in their recruiting policy. It is a recent worry, and the aviation industry is actively attempting to address these modern-day concerns.
A life story like Adam's proves that any individual, regardless of gender identification, may successfully perform the duties in the aviation industry.
On that note, we hope every individual continues to soar high and achieve all their ambitions!