Transgenders and the tyranny of slow change

It was only last week that the US State department added the option of a gender ‘X’ on its passport forms, giving official recognition on US passports to transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming persons. India is among the countries that has led in this area; Indian passport application forms have the third gender option (marked now as “transgender”) since 2005.

But on the ground, in lived experiences, it has been a different struggle that has played out in the courts, in the job market and in everyday activities, social interaction or jobs for transgenders, who are commonly known in India by terms like hijra, thirunangai, kinnar, mangalamukhi, aravani, kothi, jogappas, shiv shaktis, thirunambis, bhaiyya, and paiyyan.

Eight years ago, in April 2014, the Supreme Court of India recognised transgender as a third gender and ruled that they as a class are entitled to reservations in education and jobs, saying “the recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue.” The judgement mandated that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution would be equally applicable to transgenders. Though the judgement itself was seen in some circles as problematic because of its transphobic usages (“use of the word "eunuch" itself is offensive and throughout the judgment, "hijra" and "eunuch" is used interchangeably,” the noted activist, researcher and author Gee Imaan Semmalar wrote), it opened the door for respectful acceptance of the third gender, at least officially, but it did not open the minds and hearts of India.

This was followed by the Transgender Protection Act of 2019, aimed at protecting and reinforcing transgender rights, welfare and related matters. Thereafter, in the following year, a National Council for Transgender Welfare was set up under the ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Since then, favourable verdicts from courts across the country have sought rights for transgenders. The government now runs a national portal for transgender persons and is offering scholarships; over one million people have visited the portal.

Prejudice often stands in the way of house owners renting to transgender tenants. It is among the many problems the community faces, beginning with employment.

Most recently, the Bombay High Court (March 28) issued notices to Maharashtra and the State’s Public Service Commission asking for responses to a petition seeking the inclusion of a “third gender” category in all recruitment and employment controlled by the government. The court was ruling on a petition filed by two non-profit organisations and two transgenders who were refused jobs in the State’s police and transport departments despite the applicants having the requisite training and educational qualifications. The petitioners said they were verbally informed by the government departments they approached that unless the MPSC made changes to its existing rules, little could be done for a third gender in recruitment, which considered only the binary categories of male and female.

Court verdicts and official action may help clear the way for recognition of rights but the India experience has shown that these are not enough as mindsets and attitudes must change before transgenders get their rightful place in society.   The approximately 4.90 lakh transgender population in India has traditionally lived at the fringes of society. That number itself came officially for the first time when the 2011 Census made a provision to count transgenders as a separate category.  It has been separately reported that a large number of the community suffers health issues, including HIV and AIDS. The mortality rate in the community due to the infection is reported at just under 40 per cent. They constitute about 18 per cent of the total cases undergoing anti-retroviral therapy for HIV.

In July 2020, the Karnataka government agreed to provide reservation for transgenders in the State police recruitment process.

Eight years have passed since the Supreme Court judgement, and an interim of rulings by high courts in many States, but Karnataka is the only government that has officially offered jobs to the transgender community.  In July 2020, the Karnataka government agreed to provide reservation for transgenders in the State police recruitment process.  A year later, the State officially agreed, and was the first to introduce a one per cent reservation for the transgender community in government jobs. And in February this year, a similar quota was set aside in teaching jobs by Karnataka.  The Department of Public Instruction, also known as the Department for School Education, called for applications of primary school teachers, with one per cent reservation for transgenders, making Karnataka the first State to recruit teachers from the community. 

In 2017, Odisha implemented the Sweekruti scheme to promote transgender equality and shield the community from discrimination. Several State-specific measures for transgender have been taken over the years, like Kerala’s housing projects for the homeless and skill building. In Tamil Nadu there have been welfare schemes providing self-employment grants for small businesses, vocational training or material support. The Madras High Court recently suggested that school students be educated to understand the transgenders. 

But it is not easy to change mindsets, for instance, in 2017, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) offered jobs to transgenders, in departments from ticketing to housekeeping, through the Kudumbashree Mission. Kudumbashree, which means 'prosperity of the family' in Malayalam, is a poverty eradication and women empowerment programme by the Kerala government’s State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM). KMRL signed a three-year contract with Kudumbashree to ensure jobs for women and transgenders. But since then, most of the 23-member transgender group hired in the first phase have quit. Low salaries, lack of viable accommodation facilities in Kochi and even attitudes. One of the transgenders who resigned told a TV network that they often faced attitudes of “verup” (hate), disgust and contempt. 

One of the problems cited by the transgender group hired by KMRL is accommodation. Prejudice often stands in the way of house owners renting to transgender tenants. It is among the many problems the community faces, beginning with employment. Despite many favourable developments, what transgenders face is systemic oppression, phobia, fear, bias and distrust. This keeps transgenders from living their simple lives as ordinary citizens. So, India may have led the change in passports but it remains way behind in changes that can translate to safer, better and fulfilling lives for its transgender community.

(The writer is the Managing Editor of The Billion Press)