Kumana, who worked in Childline’s Awareness and Advocacy (A&A) section at Nana Chowk, claimed yesterday that she was coerced into leaving because of her sexuality.

Kumana put in her papers on March 7. Kumana said her immediate boss, Nishit Kumar head, A&A, had a dangerous internalised homophobia, an irrational fear and aversion to gay people.

This, she said, resulted in him telling her he was disappointed with her work, “after I turned a losing project, Dosti, in which we had to sell coupons at malls to help raise funds for the NGO into a winning one.”

Rubbish

Kumar rubbished her claims, saying, “Geeta stated her orientation upfront during her interviews, without questions being asked about it. CIF is a national organisation that pursues a child-rights approach to children in distress. CIF does not discriminate on any grounds against any person. That she was given employment is proof.

During the five months that she was with us, she neither complained about nor brought to the attention of anyone in the organisation about discrimination that she might have faced on account of her orientation. She resigned on her own accord, while her performance was up for review by March end.”

Kajol Menon, Executive Director, CIF, added that, “Geeta refused to engage in dialogue with me after the resignation. She kept flying off the handle, making discussion impossible. She resigned on her own.”

Geeta added, “The organisation may have couched a homophobic attitude with a facade of acceptance. We accept you, but not unconditionally, that was the message being sent out.”

The Worli resident could not cite a remark or incident that was homophobic at her workplace.

She iterated though that after being “exploited, where I was working weekends and long hours” she received an email from Kumar that stated, ‘The targets set for you, for Dosti, for this quarter, have not been achieved’ despite her good performance, and being told that, “anything you do for Dosti will go in your favour.” Geeta added, “This was proof that they intended to terminate my services.”

Girlfriend talk

Finally, Geeta who has been at the forefront of many lesbian rights movements in Mumbai, said, “I did talk about my girlfriend at the workplace. If people could talk about spouses, why should I not talk about my girlfriend?

“I believe I have been targeted because of my sexuality. What else could it be?” said the activist.

Geeta believes that silent homophobia is more insidious and dangerous than an

overt expression of disgust or openly expressed prejudice.