Social Exclusion of Transgender: Problems and Prospects

ABSTRACTTransgender individuals in India are broadly called Hijaras, Kinnars, and Aravanies in different parts of the country. Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviours and groups who tend to diverge from the normative gender roles. The term itself is the symbolic representation of crossing boundaries, and it has been derived from two different languages; the Latin word 'Trans' and the English word 'gender'. There are preconceived notions that Hijara are male nor Hijaras are mostly people who are bom with male physiology; adopt feminine gender identity, women's clothing and other feminine gender role. Social exclusion not only generates tension, violence and disruption but also perpetuates inequality and deprivation in Society. Overcoming 'exclusion' constitutes the most elementary pre-requisite for the building of a democratic society.Key word: Transgender. Social Family. Educational ExclusionsINTRODUCTION:Two sexes are not necessary, natural consequences of corporeal difference nor, for that matter, is one sexThomas LanqueurTransgender are individuals who were assigned a sex, usually at birth and based on their genitals, but who feel that this is a wrong description of them. Transgender individuals in India are variedly called Hijaras, Kinnars, and Aravanies in different parts of the country. Transgender is a general term applied to variety of individuals, behaviors and groups who tend to diverge from the normative gender roles. The term itself is the symbolic representation of crossing boundaries, and it has been derived from two different languages; the Latin word 'Trans' and the English word 'gender'. There are preconceived notions that Hijara are male nor Hijaras are mostly people who are born with male physiology; adopt feminine gender identity, women's clothing and other feminine gender role. They use male or female or gender-neutral pronouns, they insist that Hijaras, as a group, prefer to be referred to as a female or neither gender. Most Hijaras dress and lead their lives as women. Hence they move about a woman, is not biologically a female. They seek legitimacy and acceptance as women, but society does not accept them as women, neither does it look at them as men, causing confusion and resentment against them. They are people with a male body, but with non male of female gender identity. They usually refer to themselves as female at the language level and become women by their own will and life threatening operation and taking several kinds of hormone tablets to change their physical appearance.In contemporary usage, transgender is a umbrella term to describe a wide range of identities and experiences, including but not limited to: pre-operative, post-operative and non- operative trans sexual people (who strongly identify with the gender opposite to their biological sex); male and female' cross-dressers' (sometimes referred to as transvestites, drag queens, or drag kings); and men and women, regardless of sexual orientation, whose appearance or characteristics are perceived to be gender atypical. UNDP reports on Hijaras/transgender women in India shows that a male-to-female person is referred to as 'transgender woman' and a female-to-male person, as 'transgender man'. The terms 'transgender' or 'transgender populations/people', used in this brief, while more encompassing than women, are used to refer to transwomen given this briefs focus. Sometimes, for brevity, the abbreviation 'TG' is used to denote women. Even the umbrella term 'transgender' may hide the complexity and diversity of the various subgroups of gender-variant people in India and may hinder development of subgroup-specific HIV prevention and care interventions, and policies. For example, some Hijara activists may prefer others calling them 'Hijras' and not to subsume Hijara under the broader category 'transgender'. …