In 2014, the Supreme Court upheld the right of all persons to self-identify their gender. Further, it declared that the transgender community can legally identify as “third gender”.
“We direct the Centre and the State Governments to take steps to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and extend all kinds of reservation in cases of admission in educational institutions and for public appointments,” the NALSA judgement reads.
Now, Grace Banu, a Dalit trans woman who runs the Trans Rights Now collective, has been spearheading a struggle demanding horizontal reservation for the transgender community in India.
Difference between horizontal and vertical reservation
Vertical reservation is the reservation for the underprivileged people who come from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.
Horizontal reservation is nothing but a part and parcel of vertical reservation that is meant to ensure equal opportunities for the disadvantaged among the underprivileged - such as women, veterans, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people with disabilities.
Grace Banu's plea for clarification about the reservation was dismissed earlier in 2023. When she protested for the same in Chennai, with her comrades, police manhandled the demonstrators and forcefully evicted them from the site.
But, Grace’s spirit to resist hasn’t been dimmed by the obstacles. TNIE Online reached out to her.
Q: How did the NALSA verdict impact the transgender community?
Supreme Court passed the NALSA verdict in 2014, in which the livelihood and the rights of transgender community people are discussed. The verdict gave the transgender community legal recognition on many fronts. It broke the obstacles transgender people had in terms of attaining education and employment. The court had asked the states to implement the changes in six months. Some states did them and some didn’t.
The verdict has helped the community but it did not handle reservations appropriately. As trans people can be considered socially and educationally backward, the AIADMK government in 2016 added trans people to the MBC category. This is a drawback.
Q: Why shouldn’t trans people be added to the MBC category by default?
This would mean that Dalit trans people will be treated on a par with MBC people - they are assumed to have the privileges of the MBC category when they actually don’t have them. And, Savarna trans people, who have caste privilege will have the additional privilege of utilising the MBC reservation. Trans people from the MBC community will not get any benefits.
When we talk about reservation we say it is for equality. Equality must be attained for all people. It must not be one specific community. If it is so, people who already have caste and class privilege will only reap the benefits that come from this reservation in such spaces. Both at the national level and at the state level.
What about the people who don't have any privileges?
Dalit Adivasi trans people are very vulnerable and we are facing double the amount of oppression in the name of caste and gender. To add trans people in a vertical category for reservation is against social justice and reservation policy.
Education and employment spaces must be created for everyone. I am thinking along the lines of what Babasaheb Ambedkar said.
Can you say I don't face caste discrimination because I am a trans woman? Caste has been following me ever since my birth.
Q: How is the Tamil Nadu state government dealing with this?
Both the State and the Centre are acting alike in this case. They are focussing on my welfare and they are not focussing on my rights. Giving me Rs 10 as alms is the same as giving me Rs 1000 monthly. Wouldn’t I be able to earn if I had an education and a job?
Tamil Nadu government is doing so much in terms of reservation - there is a reservation for people who are writing NEET - there is a reservation for people who study in Tamil medium - a resolution was passed for Dalit Christians. The government is talking about social justice but it is not giving me reservation. One community is being ignored deliberately.
A Dalit trans woman who got 210 out of 300 was deemed disqualified. What is expected of us? Are we expected to compete with men and women and get 300 out of 300? How is it possible? The community has been doing begging and sex work for seventy years and whatever I do I am also a taxpayer of this country, where is my reservation right?
Q: What is the reservation you are protesting for?
Basically, a confusing government order about reservation has been passed. There are three categories - male, female, and transgender categories. If I select a transgender category, it is assumed that I am MBC. A horizontal reservation would give way to a Dalit trans person availing caste and gender reservation. We are asking for a 1% reservation for each community.
The reservation of 1% in each category – general, SC, ST, OBC, and EWS. Let us take the Central government’s reservation. It has a 59.50 per cent reservation. Of which 7.5 per cent is for ST, 15 is for SC, 27 is for OBC, and 10 is for EWS. We are asking for 1 per cent in each category. That is, 1 per cent of the 7.5 per cent reservation for ST, 1 per cent of the 15 per cent reservation for SC, 1 per cent of the 27 per cent for OBC and 1 per cent of the 10 per cent for EWS.
Q: How is the court handling the proceedings?
The judges are people with caste and class privileges. The marriage equality case hearing went on for eight days. But when we asked for a clear decision in the NALSA verdict, they did not bother to listen to the statement. They did not even listen to the petition for sixty seconds. They dismissed the plea. I am not saying we don't need marriage equality. Marriage equality is one of my rights and this is one of my basic rights.
Q: The state government recently came up with a glossary for LGBTQIA+ community people. Maybe, if we reached out to them, they will help?
They won’t. That is the problem here.
They will repeatedly come up with plans for how I must be addressed, and what toilets should I use but they won’t give us reservations. They are not moving beyond that.