THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Time to get your thinking caps on. The Kerala Bhasha Institute has come up with a contest to find and provide a suitable Malayalam word for addressing members of the transgender community. The community has welcomed the move.
The institute will invite entries from the public and a panel of language experts will select the best one. Malayalam lacks an equivalent for transgenders. Though moonnam lingam is used to refer to them at present, members of the community find it slightly offensive. There are also no suitable words for transwomen, transmen and other queer communities.
Seema Jerome, a professor in Kerala University’s Malayalam department, has been working to come up with a term in Malayalam for transgenders for two decades. However, she said the Kerala society is so conservative that a discussion on such topics is considered derogatory.
“Terms such as ‘third gender’ are not only belittling, but also show that we as a society are yet to accept the transgender community as they are,” she said. “We live in a highly conservative and patriarchal society. Look at the state of women. It’s pathetic. There is not really much to say about acceptance of transgenders then,” said Seema.
Community hails move
Transgender activists like Prijith K K have hailed the institute’s move. “Its scope should be widened. We have transmen, transwomen, and LGBTQ, all of whom cannot be defined in one category, There should be a proper term for each. Else, the move to integrate them into the mainstream may get delayed forever,” said Prijith. Seema too welcomed the move saying it will create awareness among people. “Unless such attempts are made, things will not change,” she said.