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As job opportunities died down in her hometown in Manipur, Kenedy Salam, a 26-year-old makeup artist, began applying for jobs outside of the city. After multiple interviews and demonstration rounds, her happiness knew no end as she was finalised by a top luxury makeup brand for their outlet in Pune. However, the past 20 days have been no less than an ordeal for Kenedy since she arrived in Pune. She has been struggling to find a place to stay and has faced multiple rejections, harassment and outright discrimination by brokers and house owners in the city.
The reason? She is a transgender woman.
“I am experiencing this for the first time as people are accepting of us in my hometown. But I have been so disturbed ever since I have come here. The house owner refused to rent me their place because I am a transgender person. They said to my face– You are neither a woman nor a man so how can I rent out my house to you? It is almost as if I have committed a crime by being who I am.”
With recent advancements, especially legal, for transgender people, more people of the community are able to enter diverse fields of work.
But it is while looking for a house that they are confronted with social attitudes and stereotypes which, unlike the law, have not changed.
Fraud, harassment, abuse, outright denial of help and constant anxiety make up the experience of looking for a decent and secure house to live in for many transgender people in the city.
Almost always overcharged by brokers and house owners, trans people have been paying an unfair price for their identity, literally.
A transwoman, Swarnim, a data analyst and engineer who moved to Pune from Bihar in 2021, has been paying a monthly rent, way over regular prices, of Rs 22,000 for an unfurnished 1-room flat in Keshav Nagar.
In another instance she was paying more than 75 per cent of the rent even though the flat was shared by two people.
Swarnim said, “It was unfair but I had no other option and I urgently needed a place so I could take care of my mother who was severely ill. It was almost as if I was paying my flatmate for having agreed to live with me.”
She added, “At one place I was told that I can rent a house only if I managed to get a No Objection Certificate signed by all house owners in the building. At another place, there was an outright no. At yet another I was met with extremely invasive questions. I finally just took a place as a man but it was impossible to continue there that way as I soon had to start hormone therapy.”
Sonali Dalvi, a well-known transgender activist in the city, says: “My parents believed it would not be a hassle to shift to a place in Kothrud considering I am an established transgender activist and that too living with my parents and family but they were wrong. You can only imagine what it would be like for other trans people who do not have this kind of support or recognition.”
She added, “Hospitals and toilets are fine but we also need a house to live in. Why don’t the allies who organise events for us during pride month also rent us out their homes and properties?”
In most cases, it was made clear to trans people that it was for no other reason than their gender identity that they were refused.
Agastya, a 22-year old tranman who lived in a paying guest (PG) accommodation in Pimpri Chinchwad without revealing his identity was asked to vacate within a day as the PG owner found out his identity through someone.
A 28-year-old corporate professional and transwoman, Adhyasa found out that the owner refused to give her the house after she paid a token amount and sent her documents. “Instead of giving me back my token money, the broker said that for an exorbitant Rs 25,000 he will show me a house which is next to a graveyard…”
Adhyasa used to work as a journalist before her decision to transition was met with opposition from her parents leading to four years of homelessness.
She added, “Your income level, education, caste position, religion and other social identities become a factor while looking for a house. I had the resources to transition medically and get my documents in order but many have no option except living in a Hijra samaj under a guru or in some shady, far-off and unsafe place.”
Aakruti Patel who works for Mist LGBTQ Foundation and often attends calls for their crisis helpline said, “We get several calls on our helpline from transgender people sharing troubles they are having while looking for a place to stay in the city. We cannot always be fighting battles, sometimes we just want to live in peace. For most even hiding their gender identity is not possible as it is physically visible or it is in the documents.”
Rahul Barate, a Pune-based broker who has been working in the city for over a decade, told The Sunday Express, “People do not give them a house because even if the owner does not have an issue, the housing society and neighbourhood can create problems.”
Secretary of Pune District Cooperative Housing Federation Ltd, Manisha Koshti said, “Housing societies cannot make a rule discriminating on the basis of gender, religion, caste, community, income level and so on because that would be against the law. We have got no official complaints but some housing societies probably do deny houses to transgender people off the record.”
She admitted to seeing unwritten rules in some housing societies about which communities, religions and food habits are not welcome. “In such a scenario, the house owner can lodge a complaint at the office of the Cooperative Societies department of the government, but not the person who wants to rent the place as they are not a member of that cooperative. We need to create more awareness in society about this problem faced by transgender people.”
Shameebha Patil, a trans woman activist and secretary of Transgender Rights and Struggle Committee of Maharashtra said, “Even if there is a 2% reservation for transgender people in governmental residential colonies or under the PM Awas Yojana, many of us will be spared the trial of looking for a rental house which no level of education or privilege spares you from. This is what we have been demanding of the government but it seems to have washed their hands off the matter with the Trans Act which has not even been implemented properly in terms of housing security.”
Pune-based lawyer, Rama Sarode pointed to some limitations in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. She said, “While the law says that transgender people should not be discriminated against, it focuses more on employment and does not cover other aspects of their life like housing or everyday attitudes of people and discrimination in enough detail the way SC/ST Atrocities act or the law against domestic violence do.”
For the time being Kenedy is living with some friends she made at her workplace who belong to the LGBTIQ+ community.
She spends at least three hours every day travelling to and from work – and trying to not lose hope or the dreams she had of Pune.
