Life in A Metro: The Challenges and Hardships Faced by Transgender Persons in Kochi

Abstract

Transgender is an umbrella term that describes people whose gender identity or expression does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.  They feel like their body is not their own, a feeling of misfit.  The life before and after revealing the identity is entirely different for a transgender person.  There are some needs or requirements arise when transgender persons start life anew.  Kochi, the most densely populated metro city of Kerala, is one of the favorite places where transgender people want to work and live. More than half of the transgender persons appointed at the Kochi Metro Rail Service were left the job due to various reasons. Due to the transphobia of the public, transgender persons do not get better jobs and they suffer a lot to make a living. They get more income from sex work than doing other odd jobs and it is the only means for them to live without resorting to begging.  And the savings from this work is kept by them for fulfilling their dream, i.e., the Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS).  Kochi was in news in connection with the death of transgender activist and Kerala’s first transwoman radio jockey Anannyah Kumari Alex which addressed issues related with SRS. Harassment created by transphobia and outing makes their life stressful. The women who attend various trainings on gender and related matters are now getting freed from transphobia.  The challenges and hardships faced by the transgender community can only be solved through social interventions. The gender awareness programme, role of the teachers and counsellors, interventions by the government in SRS and providing subsidy for their entrepreneurships, etc., can help a lot to eradicate transphobia and other related issues of transgender community and to let them live their life fully without any harm.