The Hindu : Front Page : Transgenders press for land

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Sunday, Aug 17, 2008
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Transgenders press for land

Anasuya Menon

JOINING THE MAINSTREAM: Members of ‘TAI-Vizhuthukal’, an organisation of transgenders, distributing free buttermilk during a temple festival.

COIMBATORE: The transgender community in Coimbatore has urged the Government to provide them land. This is following the demand to the State Government to ensure equal rights to this marginalised community. M.Sangeetha, president of the community in the district, told The Hindu that the district administration had not acted upon the community members’ requests to allot at least two cents of land to 100 members.

“The greatest problem faced by transgenders is finding accommodation. Since most of us are ostracised by our families, we have nowhere to go,” Sangeetha added. She has been asked to vacate her rented house in Saibaba Colony, which she shares with other community members.

“Very few people are willing to give us houses on rent and we stay in groups of 10 to 12, which is very inconvenient,” she said.

“We have been fighting this for long. We request the Government to consider our demand,” she said.

Coimbatore has about 2,500 transgenders and 1,945 of them are part of ‘TAI Vizhuthukal,’ a community-based organisation formed by the transgenders themselves with the aid of a Chennai-based non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), TAI.

With the help of the NGO, the transgenders are given skill training, especially in catering, tailoring, photography, and computers. The monetary help given by NGO helps them sustain their lives.

“The Tamil Nadu Government is very progressive compared to other States. Government colleges have been instructed to give admissions to the third gender, which they are following and ration cards are being issued to us.

The application for voter’s ID now contains a special column for the third gender,” said Kalkhi, editor of magazine on transgender issues, Sahodhari.

The members of the community in Coimbatore are also carrying out advocacy programmes for the police officers, Sangeetha said.

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