Transgenders in India: An Introduction

Can you define “transgender”?[1] If you think you can, stop reading this. Take out your pen or voice note recorder. Record what you think transgender means. Then, continue reading.

I’ll assume that you’ve heard the word transgender before, that you know it has something to do with sex, and that you’re aware there’s controversy over transgenderism.

If you’re still blur, I’ll give you three examples.

One. Recently two boxers in the Olympics have occupied much space in social media. The International Boxing Association does not regard them as women, but the Olympics Committee does.

If you don’t know about the controversy, do research it. You could begin by reading “J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk named in cyberbullying suit filed by Olympic boxer Imane Khelif.” This is the first paragraph:

J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk have both been named in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against Algerian boxer and newly crowned Olympic champion Imane Khelif.

Two. In 2014, the Supreme Court of India decided a landmark case. You can read about it in “India court recognises transgender people as third gender.” These are the first three paragraphs:

“It is the right of every human being to choose their gender,” it said in granting rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female.

It ordered the government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities, as well as key amenities.

According to one estimate, India has about two million transgender people.

Three. This week, a Singapore media portal carried a story headlined “Miss Universe Singapore’s First Transgender Finalist Qatrisha Zairyah Insisted On Traditional Malay Wedding When She Got Married In 2017.” It says Qatrisha has had Gender Reassignment Surgery. It also says:

“My biggest fan must be my mum who is a housewife. She never fails to say to me in Malay, “My daughter is beautiful,” she says.

Of course, you will notice she brightens up the most when talking about her 32-year-old husband who, like her, is also Muslim. He works as a non-destructive testing inspector.

Now I return to the question, “what is transgender?” Did you record an answer? How does your answer relate to the three stories I recounted above? How can your answer be improved?

I just finished reading Transgenders in India: An Introduction. It’s a short book by Veerendra Mishra, a serving senior police officer.

Mishra was formerly a Director in India’s Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The book was published by Routledge: Taylor and Francis in 2023. So, it’s a recent book by a reputable author and publisher. It’s short, but it contains a wealth of information. I’ll point out three things.

First, the religious aspect. In India, people worship many gods. The gods are male or female, or male and female. There are temples and festivals devoted to transgender gods. For example, in Gujarat, there’s Bahuchara Mata and in Tamil Nadu, there’s Aravan (also called Iravan).

In India, there’s a long-standing belief that transgenders, called hijra in the north and aravani in the south, can bless or curse new-borns and newly marrieds. They often show up uninvited at homes and marriage sites and demand money in exchange for blessing in lieu of cursing.

Their power to bless or curse is rooted in the epic poem Mahabharata, which some treat as Hindu scripture. The poem several times speaks of male gods choosing to become females. There’s even an account of the god Shiva removing his penis (linga) and throwing it away.

Mishra goes so far as to say:

“Hinduism has gone far ahead of other world religions when it comes to the recognition of transgenderism in society. Hindu devotees continue to accept the concept of God as male, female and even gender neutral without any prejudice.” (page 8).

Second, the legal aspect. When the British ruled India, they introduced the legal system which continues in India to this day. Mishra doesn’t say it, but much good came to India by means of that system, the heart of which may be said to be the Penal Code. I cannot go into it here.

One of the things the British did was to introduce, in 1871, the Criminal Tribes Act. This Act criminalized transgender. It took no account of the rooting of transgenderism in the socio-religious practices of India. It recognized only two genders: male and female. Mishra adds:

… transgender persons, called eunuchs, [2] were to be registered and put under constant surveillance, and as a sequel they were always under threat of arrest. This category included individuals who were reasonably suspected of kidnapping or castrating children or committing offences under Section 377 of IPC; appearing or dressing like women in public places or streets and dancing and playing music or taking part in public exhibitions. The transgender persons were declared as criminal elements in society. (Page 11)

The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1952. But by this time, societal norms had changed. A 2021 news headline captures it well: “Criminal Act repealed 69 years ago, but communities continue to be looked upon suspiciously by society.”

A big change happened in 2014. In National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, the Supreme Court made a decision which transgender persons celebrated. [3] Mishra says,

[The decision] not only categorically ruled that transgender people should be recognized as a third gender who can enjoy all fundamental rights but also upheld the right to self-determination of gender. It affirmed the right of every Indian citizen to choose their identity regardless of GAS [Gender Affirmation Surgery]. (Page 96)

However, they were disappointed that the decision didn’t decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults. That disappointment was ended four years later, by another Supreme Court decision, in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India.

In 2019, the government of India passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act. It came into effect on 10 January 2020. The result was a slew of changes in policy, infrastructure and services.

Third, due to the intense pressures put on transgender persons by their own families, in schools, and in society, a network of transgender communities spread across India. They are modelled on the guru-disciple system and include induction and other rituals.

One of the rituals is the removal of male genitals, ironically called nirvana – achieving a state of bliss. The person performing the surgery is called thaiamma. This too is ironic, for the word means midwife.

Due to space limits, I can only say that a transgender person become a chela (disciple) to a naik (guru) and lives in a dera (home). The chela is treated both as a child and bondservant to the guru-dera. And dera’s are in networks called gharana, which function somewhat like clans.

There’s a whole lot more in the book, including the different challenges faced by transmen compared to transwomen, whom I’ve spoken of above. It also tells the stories of transgender “successes,” despite the high prevalence of health issues and suicides among them. But I must end.

So, what is transgender? There are many definitions. Mishra offers several. I’m drawn to this one by J G Raymond (1994):

Transgender is an umbrella term that can be used in its broadest definition to describe anyone who transgresses usual gender roles; cross-dressers, transsexuals, androgynes, intersexes (people born with a mixture of male and female physiological characteristics), drag artists, and gender complex people. (Page 24)

You can click here to read the definition used by the United Nations. The first line reads,

Transgender (or trans) is an umbrella term used to describe people whose sense of their own gender is different to the sex that they were assigned at birth.

Over the years, I’ve often heard people say “Sex is what’s between your legs. Gender is what’s between your ears.” I’m inclined to think it’s true.

There are many reasons why people identify with a gender opposite to what their sexual organs indicate about them to society.

Currently, transgender persons are classified by medical professionals as suffering from dysphoria, a fancy word for disorder. Is that fair? Would it be better to refer to transgenders as persons with different genetic order?

Should gender be defined at birth? What should we say to parents whose children think they’re transgender? Should nurses in a maternity ward be disciplined if they address as “mother” a pregnant person – with a female sexual organ – who looks like and identifies as a male?

I recommend you read Officer Mishra’s book.

Peace be with you.

Editor’s note: We first touched on transgender in the column International Women’s Day 2023. Happy?! … Or Confused? published in March 2023.

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[1] The United Nations estimates that 0.1 to 1.1 per cent of the world population is transgender.

[2] Since this article is being published on a church website, it’ll add that from the beginning of church history, eunuchs have been accepted for baptism. See Acts 8:27-40.

[3] The 2014 Supreme Court decision also resulted in the mandating of transgender toilets. But it seems the Supreme Court didn’t comply till April 2023. See “SC installs gender-neutral toilets in compound, allows lawyers to mention pronouns.”