KOLKATA: The 41-year-old offspring of former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, now identifies as a transman and will be undergoing gender affirmation surgery soon.
The matter first surfaced on social media in a post by LGBTQ activist Suprava Roy, who uploaded a picture of Suchetana Bhattacharya addressing a symposium on the livelihood of the people of the community.
According to Roy, at the symposium, Suchetana came out as a transman and said that after the surgery, he would be known as 'Suchetan'.
Later, Suchetana confirmed the news, and said that it was his own decision as an adult having attained the age of 41.
He also appealed to people not to mix up his family's identity with his personal identity.
Suchetana also confirmed about taking the necessary legal steps required before going for the surgery.
Actress and rights activist Ushashie Chakrabiorty, who was also a speaker at the symposium, told IANS that it is not easy for someone like Suchetana, whose father is a former Chief Minister of the state, to come out so boldly and announce such a decision.
"I feel that the bold step taken by Suchetana will encourage many others to come out of the closet and express their feelings. Many people are scared to open up. The more people come forward, the more the social movement on this issue will be strengthened. Steps taken by persons like Suchetana will surely have a big impact on the society," Chakrabiorty told IANS.
Senior counsel of the Calcutta High Court and a prominent face of the LGBTQ movement in Kolkata, Kaushik Gupta, also agreed with Chakraborty on this point.
"The idea is to establish freedom of choice and freedom of expression. There have been cases of people undergoing gender affirmation surgeries before. Their initiatives are equally commendable for encouraging others to come out of the closet. But when a person coming from a background of repute opens up on such an issue, it has a bigger impact on the society," Gupta said.