In a recent campaign, a transgender has appeared as a lead in an ad for an Indian telecom company.
Leaving all stereotypes far behind, a half-minuter has been created by agency Lowe Lintas, which promotes the telecom company’s internet service-enabled e-learning platform. Â
The narrative shows a transgender e-learns and becomes an Algebra expert whom kids from the neighbourhood flock to learn from.
“You want to study?” “Don’t you know we’re not running dance classes? Get out!” the trans-woman, in a neatly draped cotton sari, bindi-with-a-hint-of-bling firmly in place, simply questions with dignity, why she’s unacceptable in both a girls’ or boys’ school.
This is the first step in the right direction, away from contemptuous and fearful exclusion, from a sub-human existence where prostitution helps one survive and from being boxed into exploitative, socio-religious practices.
“In an ideal world, we’d like to see a TG character as a child in school, as a lawyer, an academic and a lot more. Integrated as an everyday character,” Transgender activist Gauri Sawant, who heads the trans-women’s network Sakhi Char Choughi said. “If using the cell-phone really solved our problems, why would so many trangenders get forced into unprotected sex for money?”
Needless to say, we need several such ideas to educate and propagate equality-based integration. And one can think of no one more in urgent need of this than the Samajwadi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Visambar Prasad Nishad. In a debate on TGs on Friday, he actually asked: “Do you know why you don’t see hijras in hospital? It’s because of their clapping that they get automatically cured by acupuncture (he pronounced it AQUApuncture).”
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