PANAJI: The Goa government is planning centres for LGBT youth on the lines of Alcoholics Anonymous to provide medicines and training to make them 'normal', said Ramesh Tawadkar, the state minister for Sports and Youth Affairs.
Tawadkar was interacting with reporters at the launch of Goa State Youth Policy 2015. In the policy, LGBT youth are listed as a target group that requires focussed attention. "We will make them normal. We will have a centre for them. Like Alcoholic Anonymous centres, we will have centres...," Tawadkar said.
When asked what exactly was the role of the special centres that the government was proposing to set up for Lesbians, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) youth, Tawadkar said: "We will train them and (give them) medicines too."
Like in the case of other "target groups" such as juvenile offenders, drug afflicted youth, marginalised or migrant youth, geographically disadvantaged youth, a detailed survey would be carried out among state LGBT community, so that their problems could be specifically addressed, he said.