Paper Title
Evaluation of the Social Support and Perceived Loneliness Levels among the LGBTQ Community in India

Abstract
Human beings are social animals and it is very natural for them to seek social support, social acceptance, empathy, care and have good social relations with their family as well as the other members of the society that they live in. However, social stigma and bias, particularly in India have constrained a specific gathering of individuals in the general public to feel dismissed and overlooked. In spite of the fact that India has a rich history of transgenders and different individuals from the LGBTQ+ people group and numerous legendary proof, alongside the vedas, kamasutra and different sacred texts, the people who distinguish under the LGBTQ+ range are as yet hated upon. This study aims at analysing the level of perceived loneliness and social support that is prevalent in the members of the LGBTQ+ community, residing in the area around Gujarat, India. Two questionnaires on Perceived Loneliness and Social Support Scale were used to collect data from 20 different ‘queer’ individuals and other 20 from the normal representative group, followed by a qualitative analysis based on the personal interviews carried out with them. Based on the findings of the study, it was inferred that the individuals of the LGBTQ community experience low levels of social support (45%) and higher levels of perceived loneliness (35%) compared to the rest of the population. Keywords: LGBTQ+ community, Perceived Loneliness, Social Support