Hyderabad: About 150 hijras, transgeners and their supporters gathered at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park demanding jobs, housing and welfare.
They were demanding implementation of the Supreme Court ruling in the Nalsa case. Transgender activist Chandramukhi, who hosted the programme, said these rights were needed for the transgenders to survive.
“Every human has a right to live and the transgender people need the Nalsa v Union of India judgement to be implemented in Telangana without which they are facing daily violence, especially hijras.”
Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, another activist, said: “It is the responsibility of the government to not continue the social exclusion of transgender people and to support the community by implementing the spirit of the Nalsa ruling.”
The Supreme Court in April last year, ruling on the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, declared transgender people as a “third gender”.
The court said that fundamental rights were equally applicable to the transgender people, and gave them the right to self-identification of their gender as male, female or third-gender. The court said they were eligible for reservations in admissions to educational institutions and jobs.
Speaking about the struggles of transgender men, Santosh said, “We live very different lives from our Hijra sisters, and face a very different kind of discrimination and harassment.”
