Not many of us are aware that the University of Madras admits transgender students. It’s probably the first in the country to do so. Angel Glady, 24, completed her MA in mass communication in May from the varsity.
Campus life was a breeze for Glady. The students and faculty welcomed her with open arms. In 2008, Glady came to know that the Tamil Nadu government’s has ordered universities to admit transgenders. “I wanted to pursue higher education and that was a good opportunity,” says Glady, a graduate in fashion technology from Bharath College of Science and Management, Thanjavur.
Glady met the mass communication HoD, who was initially surprised. “Prof Ravindran was very happy to meet a transgender who is determined to join the university for higher studies,” says Glady. Nobody in the university had any problem with her joining the university, she adds. Glady was working at an MNC as a help desk executive at that time.
“I chose mass communication because I wanted to get into media,” she explains. To her surprise, her class was also very supportive unlike the world outside the varsity. “In fact, one of the lecturers, Leo Fernando, welcomed me as I entered the classroom. He told the students that I was the first transgender in the university and all the students should support me,” she recollects.
“All my classmates were very supportive. They never treated me like a different person,” she says. Glady remembers the days when they used to stroll on the Marina beach. “Since I was working, we could not go on a tour anywhere,” she says.
Glady’s theatre and dance skills got a platform during her university days. “Our department started a theatre group and we staged a lot of plays in Nageswara Rao Park, Mylapore, and in many other places. I used to dance in almost all the fresher and farewell parties,” she says.
Glady also helped her classmates understand transgenders. “Many of them asked me why other transgenders are not like me and preferred to beg instead. I explained that I was educated and identified as a transgender only after I found a job,” she says.
Many of her friends including an American filmmaker Adrian Rosenberg helped Glady in her studies. Glady’s unnoticed entry into the mainstream education may be just a beginning — but definitely a historic one.
—dennis@expressbuzz.com