HYDERABAD: Battered at will. Abused verbally, often sexually too. Made to strip their clothes for verification of their gender. Robbed off the little money they have. These are recurring chapters in the lives of trans men and women and other members of the queer community we often hear about.
However, it is high time that instead of retelling these tales of horror, we step ahead and take charge of our lives, suggested panellists after members of the trans community shared their life stories at the first Telangana Queer Tribunal at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, organised as part of the Telangana Queer Swabhimana Yatra.
As part of a series of events planned for November 2016, the tribunal was conducted to acknowledge the struggles and challenges the Queer community faces on a regularly and ways in which they can be addressed.
Gogu Shyamala, feminist, noted Dalit writer and activist, said it takes a lot of courage and strength to open up about one’s gender identity to a society that believes in a binary gender system.
“We have heard stories of trans women who are unable to communicate to their customer the pain they are going through while offering services as a sex worker. We could see how she stammered while describing her situation to us and it is a traumatising experience. To be able to engage with people who think differently is by itself a huge step and we need to acknowledge that,” said the writer.
However, one should not stop there. “The Queer community is much like women, Muslim, Dalit, Adivasi and other minority communities that are fighting a war against this patriarchal and casteist system. The society does not have the sense or understanding of a lot of things. We need to enter the society, break the barriers, educate them and make a place there,” she added.
Kalpana Kannabiran, Director, Council for Social Development who was also on the panel, said that violence cannot be negotiated with. “We cannot wait till the slap becomes battering and then report. Increased level of tolerance can lead to death and we have seen this in domestic violence cases,” she said.