5 Transgenders-Superheroes changing the gender narratives of South Asia
By: Berry Relatable
Tags: Transgender Rights, South Asia, Activism, Inclusion, Transgender

There’s a very harsh old sailor’s saying “Check out their throats for Adam’s apple before you book them for the night in Thailand”.

Recently, Page (now Elliot Page), the Juno actor came out to the world as a transgender and the internet stunningly erupted with love and support for the actor.

It got me to look upon gender fluidity in a more traditionalist part of the world, still wholly unaccepted, overlooked, and perceived outlandish as a concept.

In South Asia, we all have somehow grown up with a warped, sometimes mythical image of transgenders, living in an evident divide between the perceived customaries and the transgenders. There is a bit of evident yet silent fear and antipathy when a system is running like this. This human discord has also given birth to a lot of skepticism and fear around the concept of transgenders.

My way or the highway is, unfortunately just suitable to the west!

Unlike the 500,000 shades of greys South Asia’s got to offer, it has a stark “black & white” system with “normal people” and “Transgenders /Third Gender”. So, while we mainstreamers are spread out like our dear bugger coronavirus, the minorities stay in their own beehives. Trans people in South Asia often live on the margins, banished from their homes, tagged outcasts, living off their lives begging for alms at traffic lights, singing and dancing at auspicious occasions, and as sex workers. Their discreetness is almost like those of swiss bank accounts but their network is as outspread as the communist party of Ahem, well, the one & only.

Gender fluidity has always been at odds with “Asian values”

Social relationships and interactions in Asia are still largely influenced by gender and sexuality. A major chunk of Asians lives on keeping the community happy over being themselves and tend to be tight-lipped, especially on sexuality and gender fluidity. Mental illness, curse, very unfortunate parents are some of the “mellow” adjectives presented to and associated with them by the self-assumed imperialists.

Colonization took away progression in return for the “chisel and polish” …

The marginalization and criminalization of gender diverse clans in South Asia were through colonization, a time when “alpha male” and “beta female” was the only state of existence for men and women. Since then, we have been mindlessly dragging the heavyweight of this dictate, as opposed to our very progressive and inclusive cultural history that heartedly accepted gender diverse people. On paper, they enjoy many progressive protections and rights guaranteed by law in the immediate region but

Behind the theatrics, is a horrid dark story…

Pakistan

Categorized as Khwaja Sara, male born castrates were chief guardians of women’s harem, masters of art and culture, trusted messengers at the Mughal courts. Their nobility is further supported by historical sources which showed that Khwaja Sara wielded a great deal of power and even managed to seize the sultanate throne.

Khawaja Saras honor their noble lineage by speaking the secret language of Hijra Farsi, where Farsi was the court language of the Mughals. Loosely based on Urdu, the language but has its own unique vocabulary and pattern.

Modern-day Khwaja Sara’s are prey to rapes and murders. They are denied access to basic human rights, molested, eliminated by society, and are at an obvious high-risk of HIV/AIDS.

India

In India, we have always grown-up hearing, always respect transgenders, never do or say anything wrong to them. Their curse is stronger than the most effective of mythical characters written off in any Asian mythological script ever.

India has held a very unique position in the Asian subcontinent on genderqueer rights. Owning to the cultural diversity in India, it is not shocking that gender fluidity, queers, LQBTQ have been an important part of Indian mythological scripts and history. Referred to as “Tritiya Prakriti”, third nature, Indian history preaches to not categorize people based on gender or genitalia, but on psychology.

The religious history states that “In a very famous farewell to kind king Ram, for his 14 years of exile, he bids farewell telling his community “men & women, please go back home”. Upon his return (14 years later), he spots a group of unkept transgenders rooted on the same spot waiting for him, because they weren’t able to identify with being a “man or a woman” in Ram’s speech. Ashamed of his oversight, he bestows the power of “anything you say will come true, eunuchs of Bharat” to the clan.”

Hijras/Kinnars, as they are referred to in India, their position and status were trumped by the colonial supremacy, declaring them criminals.

A little ahead of their neighbors, some Indian transgenders have managed to reach places like lawyers, naval officers, principal, police officers, news anchors, judge, public office, Ph.D.’s, the majority are still struggling to make ends meet and are forced into being beggars or sex workers.

Nepal

Much ahead of its neighbors, suffering from the long and ongoing aftereffects of colonization, Nepal is the torchbearer of progression for queer rights in Asia. From assigning them passports under their true identity, to counting them in the census, to a right to marriage, Nepal truly wins the progression race with flying colors. So, the next time you think about Nepal, add progression to its amazing list of the amazing momos, or its distribution of most sincere watchmen to the neighbors or the first international country most Indians ever traveled to.

Being in Limbo…

Be it the west or the east, trans people need to struggle even more than Indians & Chinese do, to get PR’s in foreign countries but there is a silver lining too. Following is the list of trans right activists in south Asia, feverishly working to add the community to the country’s demographics:

Bindiya Rana- Pakistan

1. Bindiya Rana — Pakistan

Bindiya Rana, a transgender by identification, is the founder/president of Gender Interactive Alliance, working for the betterment of the clan. She ran for office in 2013 in Pakistan, standing tall under a massive strain of death threats. She is responsible for giving an “official identification” to the community with an I.D of “third gender”, giving them basic rights to vote, contest elections, etc. She recently spoke on TEDx talks about her journey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--W6K5slsSw&t=590s (TEDx Talk)

https://genderinteractivealliance.wordpress.com/admin-2/ (Gender Interactive Alliance)

Aisha Mughal- Pakistan

2. Aisha Mughal-Pakistan

Declared as the most successful transgender in the world, let alone Pakistan, in the year 2020, she represented the country in United Nations as a part of the country’s official delegation that presented the case of transgender rights before the UN on the elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women committee in Geneva. This was the first representation by any transgender from Pakistan, on a world level which is why she was listed in the most prominent positive examples of Trans and Non-Binary people around the world, in the pink magazine, a UK publication, centered around gender fluidity news and rights. The first transgender lecturer with many published papers under her name worldwide, she even played a very important role in passing the transgender person act (2018) in Pakistan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL237uoA7kM (In an interview)

Laxmi Narayan Tripathi- Indian

3. Laxmi Narayan Tripathi- India

Born in a high-caste orthodox family in Mumbai, Laxmi is a postgraduate in Bharatnatyam, the first transgender to represent APAC in UN, Awardee of Indian of the year, spokesperson of transgenders in many organizations, entertainer, Laxmi is also working towards reviving and reminding the people, the illustrious and well-respected history of transgenders in Hinduism.

https://www.amazon.com/Red-Lipstick-Men-My-Life/dp/0670089184 (Red Lipstick, The men in my life- Laxmi’s autobiography)

Gauri Sawant- India

4. Gauri Sawant-India

Gauri is feverishly working with immense empathy towards transgender children’s rights, first to file a petition to the supreme court of India for adoption rights for transgenders. She now has an adoptive daughter, whose biological mother died of HIV. She is the founder of the Sakhi Char Chowghi Trust, Sai Sawali, Aaji cha ghar. In other words, she is a superstar who deserves all the recognition they can get.

https://aajichaghar.com/all-project-list/sakhi-char-chaughi/ (Sakhi Char Chowghi- Aaji Cha Ghar — a social initiative by Gauri to support her community)

Meghna Lama

5. Meghna Lama- Nepal

While there are a lot of transgender activists, fighting for the civil and social bare necessities of its community, Meghana Lama, an entrepreneur made a safe space for trans people in Nepal, in the hustle-bustle of cisgenders and their first world problems. She is the owner of “Pink Tiffany restaurant, a cozy bar offering a safe dine out for anyone, irrespective of their gender or sexual preference, indulging in many cultural events. The staff employed is also from the LGBTIQ community. Meghana supports the community with counseling, support, and is also a famous model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btacd1KBkiw (Meghna Lama talking about her journey)

While we fight our first world problems through covid19, they are suffering much more than we can comprehend. Any help to them is like giving out a smile to their somber world.

After all,

Gender is a way of life. Humanity is life.

#progressiveinprogress always!

Tanya Gambhir@ Berry Relatable