Goa minister takes a U-turn after facing flak for lGBT remarks

After his controversial remarks over the lGBT community drew flak, Goa minister Ramesh Tawadkar today did a u-turn over the issue saying he was misunderstood and misquoted on the issue.

"I was misunderstood and misquoted. I was not talking about the lGBT (youths) but about drug addicted and sexually abused youths," Tawadkar told PTI, even as local channels continued to air the footage where he assured medical treatment to make lGBT youths "normal".

"Youth policy speaks about drug addicted youths and sexually abused youths as a focused group. There are provisions in the central government sponsored Social Justice Scheme for such youths which can be implemented in Goa," the minister said, a day after he was widely criticised for his statements.

He said when journalists asked me about lGBTs, I told them "I am not expert on the issue."

The minister also refused to acknowledge lGBT as a focused group, though the youth policy document which is currently in public domain has mentioned them as one.

"We will make them normal. We will have a centre for them. like Alcoholic Anonymous centres, we will have centres. We will train them and give them medicines too," the minister had said.

"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 had added.

Reacting to Tawadkar's remarks, noted fashion designer Wendell Rodricks  today said the minister was trying to divert attention from the main issues by talking such things.

"There are lot of other issues which need urgent attention in Goa. They should concentrate on real issues like corruption, illegal constructions, drug mafia, lawlessness and others," said Wendell.

"These are tricks to divert the attention from the main issues. They have been doing it so often. Instead of Public Works department, its minister (Ramakrishna Dhavalikar) speaks on ban on bikinis, the Sports minister is talking about lGBT," he said.

Wendell also took to Twitter to lodge his protest over the remarks and said, "They seem #lost in the #Goa mist. Talk about quick backtrack on the #lGBT #treatment #centres in Goa."

In another tweet he wrote, "Another#U-turn by the #morons vis a vis the #lGBT #treatment #centres in #Goa."

The Congress party too strongly reacted to the minister's statement.

"How can minister make such regressive statement IJ lGBTs are normal people just like us and we cannot treat them (like this). This is a shameless statement," Congress Goa spokesman Agnelo Fernandes said.