This article is written by Anaya Jain, a student of BA.LLB(Hons) from NMIMS school of law, Bangalore. This is an exhaustive article which explains about life of the transgender community, challenges which they face, issues related to their identity, myths and prejudices associated with them and few words of advice related to them.

Introduction

The term transgender refers to individuals whose sense of their own sexual orientation varies from what might be expected depending on the sex characteristics with which they were born. 

When we are born, a doctor ordinarily says that we’re male or female depending on what our bodies resemble. The vast majority who were named male during childbirth turn out to actually identify as men and a great many people who were named female during childbirth grow up to be women. But, a few people’s gender identity – their innate knowledge on what their identity is or knowledge of who they are – is not quite the same as what was at first expected when they were born. A large portion of these individuals describes themselves as transgender. 

A transgender individual may identify as a trans woman, which means somebody whose self-concept is female; and wishes to or has progressed to living as a lady in the wake of being brought into the world with male genitalia. A trans man identifies as male in spite of having been brought into the world with female genitalia. An individual who is non-binary doesn’t identify as carefully a man or a woman. 

A transgender woman lives as a woman today, yet was believed to be male when she was born. A transgender man lives as a man today, yet was believed to be female when he was born. Some transgender individuals identify as neither male nor female, nor as a blend of male and female. There are a variety of terms that individuals who aren’t entirely male or entirely female use to describe their gender identity, as non-binary or genderqueer.

Beginning as early as childhood, a transgender individual may have persistent sentiments of gender dysphoria — a distinction between the individual’s primary and secondary sex traits and assigned sexual orientation and the sex with which that individual recognizes. While numerous youngsters who experience such sentiments don’t proceed to identify as transgender in adulthood, long-standing gender dysphoria is a common encounter among grown-ups who do identify as transgender.

How have Historical epics given traces to their existence?

The transgender community was a significant part of the Indian culture from time immemorial. The underlying foundations of Transgender in India go back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. They have got a strong historical presence in our nation in Hindu mythology and different religious texts. 

In the epic Ramayana, the reference to the transgender can also be found. It is said when Lord Rama was leaving for the woodland after being ousted from the kingdom for 14 years, he turned around to his followers and asked all the ‘men and women’ to return to the city. Among his followers, the hijras alone don’t feel bound by this direction and choose to remain with him. Dazzled with their devotion, Rama sanctions them the ability or power to give blessings to individuals on propitious events like childbirth and marriage. 

Reference of this community can likewise be found in Vedic and Puranic literature. During the ancient and Mughal period, they enjoyed influential and powerful positions and were considered as one of the significant figures in the general public. But, it was after the Britishers entered India, their position changed drastically. 

They passed the Criminal Tribes Act 1871, characterizing whole transgender community as criminals. After Independence, the law was revoked in 1949, however mistrust of the transgender community continued. Indeed, even until today they remain socially excluded, disowned and abandoned by their families in their childhood living on the edges of society in ghettoized communities and harassed by the public.

How does someone know that they are transgender?

Individuals can realize that they’re transgender at any age. A few people can trace their awareness back to their previous memories – they just knew. Others may require more opportunity and time to understand and realize that they are transgender. A few people may go through years feeling like they don’t fit in without truly getting why, or may attempt to abstain from pondering about their sexual orientation or talking about it out of fear, disgrace, shame, confusion or disarray. 

Attempting to repress or change one’s sexual orientation or gender identity doesn’t work; indeed, it tends to be very painful and difficult and harming to one’s mental and emotional well-being. 

As transgender individuals become increasingly visible in the media and in community life across the nation, more transgender individuals are able to name and comprehend their own encounters and experiences and may feel more secure and increasingly happy with sharing it to other people. 

For some, transgender individuals, perceiving and recognising what their identity is and choosing to begin gender transition can take a ton of reflection. Transgender individuals risk social disgrace or social stigma, separation, discrimination and harassment when they tell others who they truly are. Parents, companions, associates, colleagues, friends and neighbours might be accepting – But they also might not be, and numerous transgender individuals fear that they won’t be acknowledged and accepted by their friends and family and others in their life. Regardless of these risks, being open about one’s gender identity, and living a life that feels genuinely authentic, can be a life-affirming and even life-saving decision.

Issue of their Gender Identity

• Gender Identity is your internal feeling of being male, female, both, neither or some other gender. For transgender individuals, their gender identity doesn’t match the sex that they were assigned during childbirth. In some cases, gender identity is outside the two most regular classifications of male or female. Individuals who feel along these lines may use the term “nonbinary.” 
• The inclination or feeling that something is different may start early in life. Numerous transgender grown-ups or adults remember noticing as kids a distinction between how their bodies looked and how they felt within. Other transgender individuals make this discovery as adults. 
• A few people feel so unequivocally that their body is mistaken or incorrect that they choose to have medical treatment to enable their body to match how they feel inside. Treatment alternatives extend from hormones to sex reassignment surgery. 
• A few people use makeup, cosmetics, hair cuts, or clothing styles to look like individuals from another gender. A few people call this cross-dressing. It doesn’t imply that an individual is a transgender. Individuals who cross-dress might be heterosexual, gay, or bisexual.

How are their needs overlooked?

Numerous decision-makers within humanitarian organizations appear to be working on the belief that transgender individuals comprise a number too small to even think about meriting consideration or attention. There are maybe two reasons behind this. 

1. First, little information or data is gathered on the transgender population, in humanitarian context and others. This makes it troublesome, if not impossible, to know what number of transgender and others belong to sexual minority groups have been adversely affected in humanitarian crises, either by external forces or by the exclusionary approaches of the humanitarian programs themselves. 
2. Second, and crucially, invisibility can be a deliberate strategy utilized by transgender individuals as a way to accomplish and keep up wellbeing and safety in societies where they are underestimated or marginalized. This complicates numerous aspects of aid provision, from data collection to making suitable programming. How might one count a population that would incline towards not to be counted? How can a service ‘target’ recipients who, as a result of the experience of being targeted in other, more loathsome ways, wish to stay out of view? 

Clearly, a progressively more insightful or thoughtful way to deal with sexual orientation is required so as to meet the compassionate goal of serving the individuals who are the most out of luck and are the most in need. Such a methodology would perceive and approve the experiences of transgender individuals and others having a place with sexual and gender minority groups; offer them the option of sharing their actual identities with personnel, and guarantee that their dignity and right to privacy would be respected, should they choose to do as such.

What are the challenges they face?

1. In India, we have the highest law of the land that must be adhered to the Indian Constitution under which fundamental rights are guaranteed to each resident. India is additionally signatory of the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and different other International Law which too gives immense rights to each individual. But when we investigate the plight of the transgender community, it is clear that those rights are not accessible towards them. 
2. Article 14 guarantees equality to all individual including transgender individual. However, it is frequently observed that transgender individuals are not at par with other sex. 
3. Article 19 also guarantees different freedom however when it comes to this community they barely get any freedom to choose their occupation or travel openly all through the nation. They are frequently derided, mocked and ridiculed. 
4. In addition, Article 21 not just talks about Right to life and personal liberty by emphasizing quality life which the government has frequently neglected to provide for this community. It is, for the most part, observed that this community is exceptionally segregated and highly discriminated. 
5. They are not given access to education and the majority of them are uneducated leaving them jobless and helpless. Quality of life of this community is of the lowest order leaving them vulnerable and helpless. At the point when any atrocities are committed on them even the law and order of the nation have neglected and failed to protect them.
6. Trans people face a ton of challenges while availing medicinal services and there have been various incidents to propose improper conduct and segregation showed towards them. Refusal of care, exclusively, for the explanation of being a trans individual is a significant issue as of today. 
7. Further, harassment and violence including physical assaults, attack and harassment in the EMT’s (Emergency Medical Technician) likewise remain as a hindrance to benefit appropriate health services. Hospitals and clinical staff likewise are uninformed regarding how to treat transgender individuals, and how to address their issues, as there is an absence of treatment awareness. The health vulnerabilities incorporate diseases like HIV, rectal gonorrhoea, syphilis, rectal chlamydia and different types of sexually transmitted illnesses. 
8. The significant barriers that emerge out of discrimination are likewise across widespread and present during transition-related care. Defining a trans individual through their surgical status ought not to be promoted and it is the duty of each medical professional to forestall such conduct. 
9. The primary inquiry with respect to work comes into picture when the legal recognition of the trans individual is in question. Identity documents are imperative to avail basic civil rights like the right to vote, right to education, legacy or inheritance rights, health and public services, and so forth. 
10. Recruiting or hiring biases, on the job discrimination, wage imbalances or inequalities, absence of lawful resources, failure to get access to documents and denied benefits disrupt the general flow of employment opportunities for trans people. Apart from halting harassment at workplaces, equivalent access to benefits at the workplace ought to likewise be advanced and promoted, so that trans people can live productive and healthy lives. 
11. The discrimination faced by trans individuals has stayed a significant worry for human rights activists in India. The stigma that the trans community faces prompts an absence of opportunities, and a repetitive type of rejection from benefits and acknowledgement. The repercussions of this are the absence of appropriate school education and harassment. 
12. Therefore, this prompts a situation where begging and sex work become the main alternatives to earn and survive. Being forced into sex work puts trans people at the danger of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and removes their agency over their bodies, alongside violating their fundamental rights. Transpersons keep on staying among the marginalised areas of society. It is here that consideration and inclusion becomes one of the greatest challenges.

Prejudices and Myths related to them

1. Every Transgender Person Is A Hijra 

This is a long way from reality. While the individuals who are uninformed and insensitive frequently use Hijra as a derogatory term to ridicule and abuse unmanly boys and transgender people, what the vast majority in India don’t understand is that the hijra community is a socio-cultural community including transgender individuals who may belong to India and even a couple of neighbouring nations. They have their own arrangement of rules and customs, and just a transgender individual who acknowledges or accepts to become a part of this community must be known as a Hijra. Accordingly, every transgender individual isn’t a Hijra. 

2. Trans People Are Incapable Of Doing Significant Jobs 

While numerous trans individuals have been successful in breaking the prejudice encompassing them, in several places of India, individuals still believe in stereotypes and refuse to offer employment to trans individuals. Not exclusively is a great deal of awareness required in regards to this, yet appropriate education and abilities or skills ought to be bestowed to trans individuals with the goal that they can turn into a profitable workforce. Numerous trans individuals drop out of school/college because they suffer bullying and harassment. There isn’t just obliviousness among students, but in teachers too. This can only be solved by awareness and sensitization of educational institutions with respect to transgender issues. A knowledgeable transgender Indian is as competent and having the right to be posted on significant jobs as some other cisgender Indian. 

3. Being The Parent Of A Transgender Child Is Shameful. 

This is one of the most widely recognized prejudices present in the public eye on account of which individuals disown their own children to suffer alone in this world – it’s deplorable! 

• Parents who see their youngsters through the eyes of society regularly don’t understand that to be progressive, a general public needs to develop and important changes should be made with time as we learn new things. It is our obligation to improve it, increasingly comprehensive and dynamic by introducing the essential changes. 
• The perspectives of society towards an individual, a group or a community begin from us since we are a part of society. If we change our outlooks or mindset and become rational and understanding, at some point or another, the attitude of society, in general, turns out to be increasingly levelheaded, rational, dynamic and comprehensive. 
• For instance, a couple of decades back, because of certain prejudices encompassing a girl child, young ladies were not seen as equivalent to young men, nor were they given advanced education and opportunities. They were likewise compelled to marry when they wanted to seek higher studies and become independent by doing jobs. But as we as a whole know, a few parents stuck out and bolstered their young ladies to seek higher studies and accomplish their fantasies and dreams. 
• Young ladies too demonstrated themselves to be deserving – fit and capable of working at higher posts and accomplishing each fantasy once told to be impossible for them. Along these lines, when society stood restricted to them, those parents remained by their children and set models or examples through their kids, accordingly helping in making a superior and progressively equivalent society. Presently, we realize that the mentality of individuals towards a young lady or girl has nearly changed in urban zones and is changing bit by bit in rural areas. 
• The equivalent applies to transgender kids also. On the off chance that parents begin understanding their transgender child, they would understand that there is nothing wrong with their kid. The genuine issue is with the attitude of society, which should be changed. Furthermore, for that, they ought to furnish their transgender children with as much love, care and education like they would to any cisgender kid, so they can become independent and accomplish their fantasies and dreams. On the off chance that this occurred, at that point, the prejudices encompassing transgender youngsters today would take no effort and time to leave Indian culture. 

4. Transgender Women Can Never Become Mothers 

The Vicks advertisement – which featured trans lady Gauri Sawant as a mother and exhibited her relationship with her daughter – brought tears to the eyes of many. Still, a great many people in India contend that a trans lady can’t be viewed as a mother because they can’t give birth to babies. In a nation where one who gives love and deals with a kid is regarded more than the person who brought forth a youngster or gave birth to a child, denying somebody the respect to be called mother, just on the grounds that they can’t bring forth a kid or give birth is absolutely inhuman. 

One of the sacred texts in Hinduism also says that parenthood has nothing to do with a specific sexual orientation. The main thing that matters is a heart loaded up with adoration and love for kids.

5. Being Transgender Is A Choice And A Transgender Person Changes Sex To Date People Of The Opposite Gender 

No, it has already been demonstrated in various researches that being transgender is definitely not a choice. This is a result of ignorance or absence of mindfulness or awareness with respect to trans individuals in the society that a few people despite everything believe that being transgender is a choice. They are unconscious of the mental injury a transgender individual experiences ordinary or every day. 

A few people go to the degree of saying that trans individuals change their sex to date individuals of the other sexual orientation. In a period, when we can know about nearly everything through search engines on the web, individuals should attempt to find out about trans individuals before remarking anything on the theme. Feeling that being trans is a choice is an unadulterated obliviousness and pure ignorance. Not all trans individuals experience surgery but rather some do to show signs of improvement and feeling of alignment with their sexual orientation. Sex reassignment medical procedure encourages them to feel free and act naturally. Also, what a great many people don’t know is that sex and sexuality are independent of one another.

Few steps towards their Rescue Gate 

• Justice is mostly denied to the transgender community. In this tragic state of affair, the Supreme Court came forward for their rescue, when the enactments or legislations have failed totally. Only after the interference of the Supreme court, this community got name and status. 
• Different decisions and judgements have prompted their liberation and emancipation. The National Legal Services Authority v. Association of India is a milestone decision by the Supreme Court of India, which declared transgender individuals to be a ‘third gender’, asserted that the fundamental rights granted under the Constitution of India will be equally applicable to transgender individuals, and gave them the right to self-identification of their gender as male, female or third-gender. This judgment is a significant step towards gender equality in India. 
• Moreover, the court likewise held that in light of the fact that transgender individuals were treated as socially and financially backward classes, they will be allowed reservations in admissions to educational institutions and jobs. Through this judgment, a few rights like the right to caste vote, own property, marry and to “claim a formal identity” would be made accessible to the transgender community. 
• Navtej Singh Johar and others Vs Union of India Secretary Ministry of Law and Justice is another milestone decision that paved the rights of the Transgender community. This case decriminalized all consensual sex among grown-ups in private, including gay sex reaffirmed the rights of the LGBT people group. It held Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code as self-assertive, arbitrary, silly and hence struck down. This judgment paved the way for Right to Life and Right to Privacy to the community. 
• Only after these two significant judgements, the lawmaking body took some effort and passed the Transgender Person Protection of Rights Bill 2016. This Bill additionally confronted a ton of criticism as the meaning of the term transgender itself was disdainful and guidelines given by the Supreme court in the Nalsa judgment were not followed. This bill fundamentally was inadequately drafted. 
• After 27 amendments, again the Transgender Person Protection of Rights Bill 2018 is passed by Loksabha. This Bill has attempted to correct all the missteps and lacunas of the 2016 Bill even though the Bill needs a great deal of progress and improvement. The revised definition precludes the reference to a ‘neither male nor female’ formulation and covers any individual whose gender doesn’t coordinate with the sexual orientation assigned during childbirth, as well as trans men, train women, those with intersex variations, the genderqueer, and the individuals who assign themselves dependent on socio-cultural identities like, hijra, aravani, kinner and jogta. There are on the whole 8 chapters in the Bill yet and, after it’s all said and done this bill isn’t farsighted, scarcely ready to satisfy the expectation of the community. This issue required genuine consideration and clear laws yet the lawmaking body has neglected to do as such.
• After this again, The Transgender Person Protection of Rights Bill 2019 was passed. A critical analysis of the Act demonstrates how there are certain defects which should be addressed, else they’ll do more damage and harm than good. Essentially, the object of this Act isn’t just to give lawful rights to the trans community but to likewise ease their entrance into the mainstream and assist them with living their lives with dignity and equivalent rights. The trans community is also human after all, who occupied incredible powerful positions before. This Act ought to be a measure to fix the wrongs committed to them and translate them into equally significant, dignified and beneficial individuals of the society.

How can we support them – some words of Advice

There is no one right approach to be transgender 

Not every person’s journey is equivalent. A few people know when they are a small child that their sexual orientation or gender is not the same as what they’ve been told they are. Others don’t understand or realize it until later or are in a state of denial. Some vibe firmly they are a particular gender, while others consider themselves to be not being any one gender. They might possibly be or not be open about being transgender. They might be militantly dynamic about it. Families should take their lead from their loved one. 

Listen with an open mind and heart

To know how best to help your relative or family member, listen in a nonjudgmental way. Somebody changing is on a troublesome journey that requires mental fortitude and courage. They are trusting, hoping and attempting to guide you to what they need from you. Having an understanding and steady family can do a lot to ease their nervousness and their possible sense of desperation. 

Utilize whatever name and pronoun is requested

A transgender individual will have invested a great deal of time and emotional energy deciding another name and pronoun. It might feel unusual or in any event, upsetting to utilize this new name, yet it will get simpler with time. 

Educate yourself

Watch recordings or videos, read books, explore the Internet. More resources show up each day and can be gigantic assistance. 

Acknowledge and accept your own sentiments

It is alright to feel a sense of loss. You may feel furious, angry or overwhelmed. You may ponder, “Why is this happening?” Know that individuals respond contrastingly to change and on their own schedule, yet perceive and recognize the importance of supporting your child. 

Become a partner of the LGBTQI+ community

Remember you are not the only one in this. Go on the web and search for associations in your general vicinity. They can bolster and advise you through what likely feels like a troublesome journey. 

Express support emphatically and as often as possible

Transgender youngsters are among the most harassed in our schools. Transgender grown-ups are regularly the objectives of contempt and violence. This is a difficult path and no individual takes it on lightly. They do so in light of the fact that it is who they are. Expressing your love and support can go far towards making things simpler. 

Be joyful for them and for yourself

The journey, albeit hard from numerous points of view, is additionally a cheerful one. Progressing or transitioning to one’s actual self is the most affirming thing an individual can do. So let yourself be joyful for them. What’s more, let yourself discover the happiness that your adored one has found who they really are.

Conclusion

Trans individuals in India have lived oppressed lives for a long time. It was only after a hard fight that they gained legal recognition. A fight or battle which was mostly fought alone, in light of the fact that many didn’t understand them. Many were unaware and some even disregarded their pain and issues as a result of transphobia. Only information and knowledge through awareness can end such attitudes and mindsets, in view of which many suffer discrimination every day. 

It’s time we bolster transgender Indians in their battle for identity, equality and dignity. What’s more, one of the best approaches to do it is by spreading awareness about them and the issues they face. Together, we can enable each other to make an equivalent and just society, where each human is dealt with empathetically and humanely. 

A famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi is quite apt on the battles of trans individuals in Indian culture – “First they disregard and ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they battle you and afterwards you win.” 

India has a long road ahead to gender justice, and the transgender community wants concerted efforts made to achieve lawful change with the goal that transgender individuals are as free and empowered in their public and private lives as some other resident of India. 

The right to wellbeing, health, work, love, pray, education and to remain associated with others, should be the right of each person without attached terms and conditions. 

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