The toxic bubble of stereotypes and prejudices crushes the transgender community of India. The topic of sexuality is taboo for the conservatives, which makes it harder for the transgender community to raise their voice.
The Supreme Court gave a landmark ruling in 2014 recognizing the community as the ‘third gender’ and directed government institutions to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes.
But, despite reservations extended in public appointments, many state governments are yet to enforce the ruling. This negligence has stalled job opportunities and development for trans people.
THE BLESSED KINNARS
The Kinnars are an integral part of the trans community in India. They refer to the mythological beings that are said to be demigods blessed in the arts of dancing and singing. The Kinnars were a respected community before colonialism. A prominent Guru Chela system used to exist where a Kinnar was looked after by a Guru who taught them the way of the community and provided a shelter for them. Under the colonial power, the Guru Chela system faded away as they oppressed those who didn’t abide by heteronormative behaviors. Even decades later, Kinnars face the consequences of this prejudice as they have to limit themselves to professions of prostitution, dancing, singing.
Ironically, Indian society views them as good luck charms, and people seek the blessings of these demigods to fulfill their dreams. It is astounding how paradoxical India can be.
THE OUTSIDERS
According to the 2011 census, India has 487,803 trans people. Not all of them are part of the Kinnar community- many are trying to integrate into the society but, discrimination and sometimes even hostility by naysayers are an obstacle for them.
Their struggle starts many a-times from their own family. The families of many queers (a term for the LGBT) evict them because they fail to understand their gender expression. Education is a privilege scarcely available to them which holds them back from pursuing jobs that require educational degrees. If they manage to get a job, they are often discriminated against at workplaces because of their appearance. Such a hostile environment suffocates them, and rarely can they equip the ‘rights’ that the government has ensured them.
THE RAINBOW
The plights of the transgender community are infinite. But, a few advocates of trans rights have made a mark. Sangama, an organization working for sexual minorities, petitioned the High court of Karnataka to provide job reservations to the trans community in government offices. It led to the reservation for 1% of the community to public offices in Karnataka.
Another advocate of trans rights is PeriFerry, a non-profitable institution that provides a free program to trans people to enhance their communication and tech skills, preparing them to equip jobs in the corporate sector. It has upskilled over 305 transgender people and created a safe space.
Many trans names are rising to fame recently- Naaz Joshi (Miss Diversity three times in a row), Laxmi Narayan Tripathi (first transgender person to represent Asian Pacific at UN), Manabi Bandopadhyay(first Indian Transgender College Principal) are a few in that list.
CONCLUSION
Trans rights are nearly non-existent in India. The fight isn’t only against the narrow-minded people in the society who misgender the trans individuals or bully them- it is also against the ignorant state governments who have denied them their rights. It is up to us, the netizens of this society, to make it a comfortable space for the transgender community of India. The first step towards it would be to give them the respect they deserve, and the second to recognize their struggles. At last, it is in our hands to decide whether we keep quiet about the injustice this community faces as a form of sexual and violent assault.
It is up to you to decide whether you want to be part of the change or the problem.
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