We are all the same

By: Subhankar, Sowmya, Manit, Gauri

Juno Dawson once said - “Remember this, whoever you are, however you are, you are equally valid, equally justified, and equally beautiful”.

We are a country that celebrates diversity in culture, creed, and religion. We all are proud of our ideologies of “Unity in Diversity,” but we seem to fail to notice that our society is strictly gendered and still holds a certain amount of prejudice and taboo when it comes to transgenders.

Despite our constitution claiming to provide equal rights and opportunities for all, the same is far-reaching even today. Many battle for their self-respect every day.

Transgender awareness week is observed between the 13th and 19th of November to help address issues that the members of the transgender community.

People from the transgender community face major challenges in our society. Discrimination in the workplace and the education system of our country is a major one. The reasons for the denial of education to this community can be poverty, exclusion from their own family and friends, mental health issues, etc.

Let's have a look at the census conducted in 2011

1. Population of Transgender people - 4.9 lakhs

People literate in this number - 46%

This Percentage is extremely low compared to the normal population with a literacy rate as high as 74%.

2. They have been categorized as a ‘Disadvantage group ', meaning they have 25% reservation as an economically weaker section.

The people belonging to the transgender community are looked upon as a lower class by society due to their lack of education and employment opportunities, resulting in exclusion from society.

This graph gives us an idea about the living status of trans-Indians, the highest percentage live with a leader and then many of them live alone. 14% live with long-term partners, and 7% live with their parents (most trans persons still face the issue of not being accepted by their parents because of the social stigma around them). 6% live with their peers who belong to the same community while 5 % live with their husbands.

The members of the trans community are rejected and seen as outsiders within their very own families. They are caught in an influx trying to find some kind of connection and means of livelihood.

There were multiple awareness campaigns on the transgender community awareness that resulted in significant legal victories. But trans people have to face high levels of violence, discrimination, alienation from their friends and family, and poor health outcomes even today. All that we as a society must strive for is to understand others and develop an environment where one another is equally respected and fairly treated in all situations.

Achieving our goal of transgender equality requires activism at the local, state, and national levels. Some little changes that can make a big impact in society for transgenders are:

• Ask your library to carry books that deal positively with trans people.

• Volunteer with an LGBTQ club/ community.

• Gender-neutral washrooms in workplaces.

• Locate support services.

• Collect and share stories of discrimination.