LGBT member joins secretariat as the first full-time staffer

 M Monisha, from Belagavi, has created history by becoming the first LGBT community member to be a full-time, permanent member at the state secretariat.

Karnataka legislative council chairman Basavaraj Horatti told reporters he has instructed officers to proceed an order appointing Monisha as an employee.

In March, the Karnataka high court had directed the council to issue an appointment order to Monisha , who’s cleared class 7.

Since documents — medical certificate, name-change affidavit and experience certificate — were not available then, the council chairman had appointed her as a temporary staff, giving her six months to get the needed papers.

Secretariat sources said the assembly section did not file an appeal against the high court directive after it resolved to encourage the LGBT community to be included into the mainstream.“We can proudly claim Monisha is the first transgender to be appointed in the secretariat.

The collective decision was to encourage her to join the mainstream and set an example to the rest of the community,” said council secretary KR Mahalakshmi.