Accept All…

“I’m not afraid of ware wolves or vampires or haunted hotels, I’m afraid of what real human beings do to other real human beings” says Walter Jon Williams. Aren’t we really loosing humanity somewhere?? The recent incident held in Kerala is another proof for that. Transgender Sajna Shaji from Kerala was selling biryani packets on the street for which some people had issue with. She sought help through Facebook live which brought many helping hands whereas some other audio clips were spread insulting this. Sajna heartbroken due to this, attempted suicide and is currently under treatment.
The third gender people comes from all walks of life. From being a mother to every field in the society trans genders after all those tough times in the history are earning respect in their respective fields. The transgender activist Gauri Sawant is a transgender mother from Mumbai India. Gauri was featured in an ad by Vicks which was a part of ‘touch and care’ campaign and showed the story of Gauri and her adopted daughter. She is the director of Sakhi Char Chowgi Trust in 2000 which provides counselling to transgender people and helps people with HIV/AIDS.. She is also petitioner of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgement that was passed in 2014 and marked a cornerstone in asserting the rights of Transgender. The law permitted transgender to live unreservedly and express their gender identity without any gender crisis and are now referred to as ‘third gender’. Joyita Mondal from West Bengal has earned the title of being the first Trans woman judge in India in the year 2017. She worked for the welfare and development of their community. Kalki Subramaniam from being a victim of harassment have become the first Indian Transgender Entrepreneur. She is the founder of Sahodari Foundation which focus upon improving the lives of transgender people in India. She is also a reporter, writer, performer and activist. K Prathika Yashini from Tamilnadu born as Pradeep Kumar became the first transgender police officer in the region. The list will go on from lawyers, soldiers and even to the band ‘6pack band’ which won the Glass Lion of the Cannes Grand Prix.
More than anything earning respect and equality have been the constant issue of their life. Legal systems that often fail to protect them and their rights, poverty, violence comes next. Even though they are not less than anyone the way they are looked upon is still the same as years back. They challenge the thoughts of society, the practices and stereotypes that have been followed. They have been proving themselves through every way possible but still were not considered as equals. It’s high time for the society to learn how to support them. First of all the words one use to describe themselves should be minded. Gender non confirming people use many different terms in their language so one should be aware about the pronouns to be used for them. Being aware about some common gender identity terms and transgender rights can be helpful to support them to a certain extend. Let’s accept that in order respect someone we don’t need to know their gender. Let’s be aware of the words spilled out. And as it’s said in a world where you can be anything, let’s be kind.