Kolkata, February 10: Thirty eight year old Nitai can now stand up and get counted. India after 64 years of its independence has decided to give her an identity. Census 2011 will have a new sex category for her.
Apart from male and female, there will be a third option for the question of gender – the other. Battling social discrimination and isolation for years Nitai and her friends are happy that they will finally have an identity they don’t need to hide.
A transgender male, Nitai said, “It’s a good thing for us-finally someone is taking note of our existence.”
The idea of India will now be more inclusive and attempts to be more socially realistic but it still has its limitation. The new gender category introduced in the census for the first time many believe is going to marginalize those who have been silenced and ignored for decades even further.
Another transgender Shambhu said, “We are not others or different. I have an identity. I am a trangender male. I don’t want to be relegated as an other. I am not outside society.”
Monu, 25, was told she was different because she loves a woman. She is a man trapped in a woman’s body. For her, identity is a difficult question.
Monu said, “I am a woman but I think like a man. What am I supposed to identify with. There should be sub-categories within the new category that has been introduced. Lesbian category should also have been included.”
A small step is perhaps better than no step at all. Census 2011 has taken a bold step forward but it’s a leap in imagination that perhaps is needed still.
——–Agencies