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Journalism of Courage
Legal recognition alone cannot combat the discrimination faced by transgender individuals.
On November 1,Germany became the first European country to introduce a third sex option in its birth certificates. For transgender individuals,forced for so long into identities that do not articulate their sexual or gender orientation,it could be a vital mark of recognition. In most countries across the world,they are largely consigned to legal anonymity and denied basic citizenship rights. In India,they have to identify as male or female in order to vote or marry,and to access many social services. But the state is slowly waking up to the presence of gender-variant identities,with the UIDAI and the Election Commission making space for a third sex option on their forms,the Centre introducing a well-meant though misnamed E (eunuch) category in passport applications. Transgender individuals were counted for the first time in Census 2011.
People of the third sex must become part of the social and cultural life of the mainstream. In Tamil Nadu,for instance,transgender individuals have started breaking out of the ghettoised communities they were confined to,with a dedicated state welfare board. Apart from being given separate ration cards and better access to education and jobs,they are also increasingly visible in the states popular culture,hosting talk shows and being feted in the media. Such inclusion,in peoples imaginations as well as in the law,could go a long way in combating discrimination.
