Learning Gender, Sexuality & Intersectionality with Saathii NGO

I attended the quarterly workshop of Udayan Care with Saathii NGO, which was held on 7th September 2025 at Bal Bhawan, Faridabad. It was Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality, although between you and me, it was a long-overdue sex education and social awareness lesson.

This was an experience organised by Udayan Care, where I am a fellow and scholar. Not only does it provide us with monetary assistance, but it also offers us access to an inspirational learning platform. Their focus on delivering this session to us is a testimony to how they value our growth, not only as intelligent beings but also as responsible human beings building society.

Sex education in India is still a taboo subject, and it is not taught in school or at home. We all end up growing up with half-truths or what we learn via the internet or hear from friends. This workshop was special – it gave us a space where we could talk, learn, and cogitate without the fear of being judged.

What We Learnt

The workshop was divided into sessions that each examined gender, sexuality, and society from a unique perspective. The following are the segments that most stuck with me:

Food and Sexuality Analogy

The facilitator equated sexual orientation to food choice. Everyone is different in the type of food they like, and no one questions that. But sexuality, and yet they ask for explanations, control, and judgement. This was a straightforward yet brilliant analogy—it made the topic so easy to comprehend and relate to.

Sex, Norms, and Silence

We talked about the fact that sex remains a taboo topic in Indian society. This secrecy generates stigma and falsehood, which is a bigger evil than the practice itself. It made me remember that we desperately need candid and open talks about bodies, consent, and choices.

Social Pressure and Gender Expectation.

This section resonated. The society constantly puts people in rigid gender roles – men must be macho and breadwinners, and women must be nurturing and submissive. Anyone who does not fit the picture is damned. And when you actually consider it, the pressure is even more firmly imposed on the LGBTQ+ population. Those who do not subscribe to binary gender expectations or conventional roles are marginalised or shunned, when all they want is the same freedom that other people are enjoying.

Law and Justice

Our discussion of the way laws have always been male-dominated has also been mentioned. Even modern-day law systems have more social bias than equality. Yes, we have made some progress – such as decriminalising homosexuality – but justice still seems slow, even reluctant. It was an excellent call to remember that real equality does not only lie in legislative changes but also in the fact that such changes are carried out in real life.

Personal Choice vs. Family Decision.

Marriage in India is rarely viewed as a personal decision; instead, it is often tied to family prestige, caste, and tradition. This workshop had its history, explaining that marriage has been employed much to restrain autonomy, especially that of women.

Being a proponent of LGBTQ+ rights, this also made me consider same-sex marriages. No matter how much love there is, family and law always seem to take it away from people who want to live freely. The aspect of control that is either by family or society that ties everything together.

Interactive Scenarios and Quizzes

The highlight was that it wasn't only lectures. We had scenario presentations and quizzes that made us stop and think, "What would I do here?" It added vigour to the session and kept us engaged with the subject, not as theory but as experienced reality.

What Worked Well

In my mind, the marriage theory was the most memorable, and so was the history of the development of our social structures and laws, which helped to put things into perspective. The problems we face today did not occur in a day but were founded on centuries of systems that were unequal. That made me realise the reason change is difficult, but why it is so necessary.

The interactive exercises also fit. Rather than being passive listeners, we were involved. That made it more intimate and difficult to forget.

What Might Have Been Improved

This is where I wished the session could have done better: good for awareness, but not quite enough for solutions. We discussed patriarchal laws, family pressure, and gender stereotypes, but not nearly as much as we could about how to alter them.

I continued to wish that we had delved deeper into:

• How schools can actually incorporate thorough sex education.

• How parents can encourage free-flowing conversation at home.

• What policies can realistically counteract gender bias?

• And yes, how allies and LGBTQ+ supporters such as myself can be actively contributing to safe spaces.

• Knowledge is strong, but inaction can make it seem barren.

Feedback for the Session 

In conclusion, it was a satisfying experience to have a session on sex education, social history, and self-reflection. It assisted in opening up dialogues that had been submerged or even concealed within our houses, in our learning institutions, or even in our open areas.

It made concrete for me, as a writer, what I consider to be the nearest to my heart: that we must make our stories break the silence and be stories that are not done traditionally and that give a voice to those who are not always heard, those of the LGBTQ+ community. The issue of representation is a reality of our society, and these workshops demonstrate that.

I would also like to give my thanks to Udayan Care, who made this session available to us. Udayan Care has provided several opportunities, such as this one, workshops, exposure, and learning spaces that help me become more mindful, responsible, and compassionate. This is a true difference in their work of connecting us with other organisations, such as Saathii NGO.

I hope that in the future, workshops such as this one will go even further – pairing theory with real-life solutions in such a way that the participants can not only leave educated but also equipped to change something.

Since awareness is only the beginning, after all. It is the next thing we do that is the test and the real hope.

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