Don't want to be the third gender, say transgenders

When Shanthi, 65, first came out to a doctor in 1977, he was diagnosed to be suffering from a mental disorder and referred to a mental facility. It was between 1989 to 1991 that Shanthi was eventually diagnosed as a transgender with a prescription for sex change. At 65 years, Shanthi says it is too late to opt for a sex reassignment surgery (SRS). "At that time, my family protested. And, I never really had the money to do it," she said.

Shanthi, a transwoman from Vishakhapatnam, says that things haven't changed much since. The Rights Of The Transgender Persons Bill, 2016, slated to be introduced by the social justice and empowerment in the Parliament, says that "transgender should be declared as the third gender", and that transgender people "should have the option to identify as man, woman or transgender." And Shanthi, like many trans people, say that being third gender is not what they had set out for all along.

Most trans people, who strive to identify as either men or as women, say that being identified as a third gender defeats the very purpose of coming out. "There are several categories under the composite umbrella of transgender, and there are very small differences between all these categories. Most of them do not adhere to being strictly male or female in terms of gender identity, and some opt only for appearance changes, and not sexual changes," said Shanthi.

Anu, an engineer from Mangalore, who came out to her mom as a transwoman in 2007 in the first year, says that the lack of understanding of the binaries of gender is the most difficult to navigate through. "The Bill does not adequately define the different categories under the transgender -- transexuals, intersex, gender queer, transvestites, and hijras. Yet, the government's bill wants to extend the facilities only to the people of third gender," says Anu. "It is important to understand that all hijras are transgenders, but all transgenders are not hijras."

Identifying as a third gender robs a trans person of the option of ascribing to a certain sexual identity. And, as per the draft bill, only when a person will accept that he or she is a third gender will they be entitled to the benefits mandated by the law. The bill, many say, is falling to the fear of stereotyping the transgender community.

Anu, who used to love to dress up as a girl when she was a child, says that she suffered from years of gender dystrophia before understanding what was happening. "When I saw and read the work of Gazal Dhaliwal, I was inspired to come out. I told my mom first, and yet, both my parents hate me. They blame the internet for what happened. My father thinks I'm gay, and my mother thinks I'm simply effeminate," said Anu.


Website comes to help 
Neysara, a transwoman who recently started a website (www.transgenderindia.com) to help shed light on the live of transgenders say that the government needs to direct policies to help remove stereotypes on the community. "Parents still see it as a shame, and unless that changes, very little will change," she says.