Trigger Warning:
“When I was in grade 7, a boy kissed me. I was shocked. ‘I was a boy too, so why is this other boy kissing me?’.
During my childhood, I hated being around boys. It didn’t feel right. Instead, around girls was where I was most secure. I had dolls and I would bathe in the bathroom unlike other men in the family who would bathe in the open. I did all tasks which were considered a woman’s work. My classmates always bullied me and called me names. Back in 1990s, even the doctors didn’t understand what sexuality meant. They would give electric shocks! The doctor my mother took me to suggested that I should stop talking to girls and that would eventually make me more manly. I tried. I tried really hard to walk like a boy, talk like a boy and hang out with boys. But I just couldn’t. I was still continuosly bullied. Why me? Why was I the one always attacked?
Fortunately, my degree college was a better place because the principal knew my family. But that didn’t stop people from talking behind my back about me.
In 2011, I finally told my mother that I wanted to get a surgery and become a woman.
They asked me to leave the home. I struggled a lot. I would sleep on the roads and bus stops. I had no food for days. Luckily, one day, another transwoman, Suma, helped me. She introduced me to the community and I found a space. My mother put me in a Bharatanatyam class when I was a child, so I knew how to dance and that helped me make a career.
I later joined NGO Alliance India Pehchaan as the representative and program coordinator of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. I understood everything about the trans community. The media wrote about me and my story. That was when my family eventually accepted me. They realised that I was smart and independent and being trans didn’t make me any different from others.
As a proud trans activist, I wanted to make the world and my state a better place for other kids who are struggling to understand their bodies. For years, we struggle within, trying to understand why we’re different and why we are, the way we are. Many kids blame themselves because they don’t know how to deal with it. People aren’t sensitive enough towards us. Finally, when we overcome the demon inside, we face yet another challenge against society. How many transgender people have killed themselves? How many of them have left homes and have nowhere to go? Who is responsible for this? Although the Supreme Court gave a judgement in favour of us with National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India where transgender people are considered as the third gender, nothing really followed. We received Aadhar cards but no jobs or reservations. If the government doesn’t guarantee basic rights to education and jobs, then how do we survive? In the recent times, LGBTQIA+ community has come together to have one platform to fight for rights. But we’re far from done. We have a long way to go where every child who feels different should be heard, should get help because every child deserves it. That’s the reason I entered politics in 2018 as well. I’m a proud and first transgender candidate in Telangana.
Although I have faced issues and threats because of my decision, I’m not going to stop. My fight continues till we are treated equal and with respect!”
#pridemonth2020 #breakthetaboo #pride2020?️? #pridemonth #pride #lgbt #gay #loveislove #lesbian #acceptance #gaypride #queer #bisexual #transgender #lgbtq #bornperfect #transgenderrights #equalitymatters #accelerateacceptance #comingout #Hyderabad #HumansofHyderabad Chandramukhi muvvala Transgender activist Chandramukhi Muvvala