A very interesting documentary from PROJECT KALKI, made by our transsexual trainee Roja. Will men come forward to marry transsexual women and live with them openly? The public of Tamilnadu come up with surprising answers. I am immensely happy to present this video.
"The transgender community has faced innumerable hurdles, right from getting a job to adopting a child. And it is time that society realised that being transgender is not about begging or sex work." - I spoke, infront of the Supreme court and high court judges of India in Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi.On February 5th 2011 happened a historic event in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. It was the first National meeting on Transgender and the Law which was organized by NALSA with the technical support from UNDP.
Supreme court judges and High court judges from all Indian states participated in this seminar. Honourable Justice of the Supreme court Altamas Kabir Kabir inaugurated the seminar. The seminar was organised by the National and Delhi Legal Services Authority and with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
I and Priya were the resource persons from Tamilnadu from the trans community invited by UNDP. We were also the only two to go from South of India to represent all four states. From the north were Lakshmi Narayan Tripati, Gauri and Shabeena Francis. We all were the resource persons who shared the problems of the transgender community to the of high court and supreme court judges in different meetings atdifferent seminar halls at the same venue. I had already met the Honorable Justice of the Supreme court Amtamas Kabir, Honourable Justice of the Supreme Court of India P.Sathasivam and many others at a state seminar held in 2010 in Chennai arranged by the Tamilnadu Social Welfare Ministry and the State Legal Authority. When I was a resource person in the state meet, both the Judges had come and heard what we transgender activists had to say. It was nice to meet them once again in Delhi. I also met the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court M.Y. Eqbal, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Dipak Mishra, Justice V. Vikramajit Sen of the Delhi High Court. The Judges were truly compassionate and heard us with keen interest and concern. Many of them are well aware of the problems of our community. I am soon all our concerns will be addressed soon.After the opening segment in which the Supreme court judges spoke, two technical sessions opened in which I was one of the resource persons. I made a powerpoint presentation about the problems of the transgender community in family, institutions, workplace, health care and in public etc. I unvieled all, yes all, that should be heared by the judges and lawyers who were present there. I and the other activists elaborated on the medical, health and legal issues faced by transgender people. I made sure the problems of transsexual men are also heard. I spoke their problems in detail too. My emphasis was also on the protection of transgender children.
Country Director of the UNDP Caitlin Wiesen in her speech said that UNDP had documented horrendous ground realities of transgender people's lives in India and urged for the many concerns of transgenders to be addressed.
I hope the future holds equal space and a life with dignity for all transpeople in this country. Thanks to NALSA and UNDP for making such an important meeting possible.
The Media reports on the seminar: http://www.thehindu.com/news/... http://www.newkerala.com/news... http://www.deccanherald.com/c...
Narthaki, the film is a magic - Thank you world for appreciating my performance
Narthaki, my film was released in India on 14th May. :). The movie has received excellent reviews from the Tamil and the English press and I am so so happy. Absolute satisfaction and happiness? When people and the media reviewed my performance in the film. I am honored and a little shy to accept all the appreciation coming from the media and the public about my performance in the film since it release. My mail inbox is getting filled with love and encouragement mails. Narthaki is a magic whic happened to me. I believe, God had chosen me to do this wonderful job. Like a messenger, I had done my job with 100% involvement, dedication and honesty. In the history of transgender people's rights movement, the movie is one historical milestone. More so, in Tamil cinema as well. In June the movie was released in Kaula lumpur, Malaysia as well.The movie is making a change in the society. Everywhere the Tamil people live. India, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Canada, Sri Lanka, USA etc. It is destined to fetch many awards. I want the movie to go places. It is such a great work and the whole team worked hard.
Thanks you media. Thank you public. You know what? The greatest appreciation came to me from my own community, yes, the transgender people. 'Narthaki' has become a part of their life now. I am getting phone calls non-stop from the Tamil transcommunity from all over the world. Showers of love, showers of appreciation. They love and respect me more and more. And I receive them all in silence. Politely like a shy muse who drank elixir after her performance.Look at this fan video made by Sowndharya :)
After I signed up to do the lead role in the movie, the director Vijayapadma and me spoke about the casting of the artists for various characters in the film. I chose all the artists for the transgender characters in the film. Need I say all those girls where from my team? :). Some elder transgender women also played other characters. Director Vijayapadma met all of them and approved everyone I had introduced to her. All of our Sahodari team girls have done various characters in the film. Should I say they acted well? No. They gave exceptional and EXCELLENT performance in the film. Suhasini maniratnam in the film review TV show 'Hasini Pesum Padam' hailed their performance. She said all of them delivered 'Incredible performance, Unbelievable, Wonderful'.Girls from the Sahodari team Sowndharya, Sandhiya, Abinaya, Vasantha Nani, Anandhi, Kala amma, Roja, Reema and more than 25 other girls were cast. They were paid well for their work in the film. The money they earned in this film helped all of them tremendously.
Advocating for transgender rights at the International Seminar on Transgenders at St.Xavier's College, Palayamkottai INDIA
It was supposed to be an international seminar on transgenders, but it wasn't. It was a state seminar. Yet, I met many transgender women burning and roaring like a fire with determination in getting equal rights for transgender people in India.St.Xavier's college in Palayamkottai organized this landmark event to sensitize people and the policy makers on our issues. The Seminar was inaugurated by Honourable D.Nepolian, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India and the valedictory address was given by Honorable Geetha Jeevan, Minister for Social Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu. Over 200 transgenders, office-bearers of their associations, human rights activists, academicians, research scholars and students participated in the Seminar.
As a result of the two days seminar which was on Jan 29 and 30th 2011, at the end a Declaration was passed. The Declaration is the outcome of two-day International Seminar on Transgenders, which deliberated extensively on the life situation and problems faced by Transgenders.
I met a long time admirer and friend Prof. Kannan Narayanasamy at the seminar. His contribution in the declaration was significant. I worked extensively on the points to be put forth in the declaration. Some of the points towards legal intervention are : 1.Sexuality minorities should be assigned the Constitutional status of "minorities" and all forms of discrimination and victimization against them be made illegal and punishable. 2.All custodial and judicial procedures being followed for women should be extended to Transgenders. 3.All discriminatory provisions against sexuality minorities - sec.377 of IPC, sec.46 of Army Act, Navy Act and various state Police Acts – should be repealed. 4.The Indian Medical Association's rules which prohibit a Registered Medical Practitioner from performing Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) should be relaxed; all qualified Surgeons should be permitted to do SRS.
Finally, I have completed my film shoot and the dubbing (my own voice ofcourse!). The background score is being done by G.V.Prakash (who scored Madrasapattinam, Angadi theru and Adukalam). The movie is a beautiful story of a transsexual child and her journey to womanhood and love. 'Narthaki' is the story of a transsexual dancer.I am blessed and lucky to dance under the choreography of great dance masters/legends Sivashankar master and Raguram master. I am lucky to act with Girish Karnad sir. Not only did I learn acting from him but also I learned politeness, patience and simplicity from the legend.
Narthaki is special, a one of kind film in Indian cinema.
My entry into films as the first heroine of Indian cinema from the transgender community
I am happy to announce my entry into the film world. I play the lead role in a Tamil film called 'Narthagi'. It is a beautiful life journey of a transgender person. The story of the film is inspired by my life and many other transgender women's lives.
The film is produced by reputed film maker Punnagaipoo Geetha and directed by G.Vijayapadma, a reputed yesteryear journalist and documentary film maker. Music is by G.V.Prakash and the choreography by Sivashankar master.
The child actors who play different ages of my character in this film were carefully chosen to resemble my childhood and teenage looks and resemblance. It is a powerful film and the name of my character in this film is also Kalki.
I accepted the role because the script was fantastic. The film portrays the real life struggles of transgender people. Feature films are a strong medium to sensitize people on any issues. I have got the most important and the biggest opportunity to sensitize Indian people on transgender people's issues and I will do it fantastically. The shoot is on already. I will say with confidence that I have done a fabulous job so far in my film. I have acted well and danced well.
The hero of the film is Vivin, he is so sweet, he is a darling. I love the whole team. I will keep you all posted with more information. watch this space for more. Love you all :)
In October, the government of United States invited me under the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) to visit Washington, Saltlake City and New York. The programme was designed with the theme ‘Human rights activism and awareness’. It was a trip to share my experiences as a human rights activist in India to the Americans and to study the federal, state and local government functions, American rule of Law, NGO management, and minorities’ rights in the United States.
On October 2nd, I landed at Washington DC. Washington DC is known as the city of monuments. It is a very interesting city and I loved its huge historic buildings. On October 3rd, we had a tour of the city in which I happened to see the White House, Capitol building, and many interesting museums including National Museum of American History and National Museum of Natural History. I had to great opportunity to visit and pay my respects to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. I was there just a day after his birth anniversary. I could see the fresh flowers in his statue. I was so proud to see the statue of our Father of Nation, in the capital city of the United States.My programme in Washington DC was designed to gain knowledge in the US government’s federal, state and local systems, to know about civil rights in America particularly for the minorities in the country who constituted a large number of the total population.
The visits to American University Washington School of Law, Department of Justice, Department of the bureau of Democracy and Human rights, American Bar Association gave great insights into American law and civil justice.
At my meeting at the Amnesty International’s Washington office, I met Mr.Kumar who is the Advocacy officer. He is a Tamil who migrated to the United States two decades ago during the beginning of the war. He had lost some of his family and relatives in the war. Migrating to another country and living a new life does not heal the wounds and the pain of leaving your mother land. I shared the horrors of genocide in Srilanka and Mr.Kumar spoke with me with such sadness about leaving his own land due to war.
I met Ms. Maria McFarland, Deputy Washington Director of Human Rights Watch in her office at DuPont Circle. HRC investigates and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. It challenges governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. HRC has researchers all over the world who investigate research and prepare detailed reports on human rights violations across the world.I read some of their reports on untouchability in India and police violations and harassments in the state of Bihar. Some of their reports on human rights violations in war countries are frightful.
After 6 beautiful days of enrichment, we flew to Salt Lake city in Utah. At SLC, on the day I landed there was huge protest by gay community against an anti-gay remark made by a Mormon church leader named Boyd K. Packer. More than 4,500 gay rights advocates gathered outside the headquarters of the Mormon church to protest anti-gay remarks by the church leader. Boyd remarks that the LDS Church would always oppose same-sex marriage, that gays and lesbians could change their sexual orientation to straight. He also said homosexuality is “a habit or addiction that is unworthy,†and “impure and unnatural.â€
The Human Rights Campaign has called Packer’s remarks as “inaccurate and dangerous rhetoric.†It also stated in a statement “Unless Elder Packer or the Mormon Church’s hierarchy corrects these inaccurate statements immediately, individuals will interpret them to mean that the church condones discrimination or harassment against LGBT people and others struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identify could rationalize the statements to continue their self-loathing or bring harm to themselvesâ€.
I had the opportunity to witness campaigns against anti-gay statements in a small city like Salt Lake city. In SLC, I had the chance to be a part of the National Coming Out day celebrations. I met the National PFLAG president, I met many parents and partners of the LGBT community in SaltLake. I spoke to some of the researchers and activists there. According to their research in the USA, the suicidal tendencies among the LGBT people is 350% higher when the don’t get accepted by their families. I am sure, that is the case all over the world.
I was overwhelmed to see the LGBT people and their families. I was thinking about the situation in our country for the transgender community. Many of us transwomen, have been abandoned by our families because of our gender identity. I knew that our parents have been the root cause of abandonment. A huge number of transsexual people in India are into begging and sex work owing to discrimination, non acceptance and lack of education. I learnt that our families play an important role in the well being of the LGBT persons.
From Salt Lake City, I flew to New York which is the international capital of fashion, films and multi cultural living. New York is a very populated city. I met people from Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle east. People wear a lots of colors and and I learnt fashion in New York studying people. To me, Washington DC is much more sophisticated than New York and I love Washington DC more than NY. Some of the highlights of my trip to New York were my meeting about NGO management in the UN building with John Brothers, visiting the New York commission of Human rights and the meeting at the Centre for Court Innovation. These meetings were more about learning human rights activism.
My most depressing moment was at the 9/11 site. I found many cranes, empty spaces, construction workers and trucks. There were steel structures being built where the beautiful twin towers existed once. I was almost in tears to think and live in that moment of horror.
Thousands of people lost their lives, men, women, children – Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and people who had no religious faith, all of them were killed by the terrorists. I was, for a moment, shocked to think of the cry and the intolerable pain of death the children and adults had to go through and looked at the place once again.
No matter who you are and what you do, each one of us, plays an important role in our own way, in the society we live in. No matter what, terrorism should be wiped out.
Young people like you and me, should remember this and work for universal peace, for equal rights to all, for tolerance and universal love.
Kovai Rainbow Film Festival - Celebrating LGBT identities, out in the country
It is important that the LGBT people in the small cities, towns, and villages feel proud about their sexual orientation and gender identities. A pride festival that happens only in big cities should happen in small lesser known places. This will provide them space to come out and network. Pride celebrations help the LGBT community is so many ways. For example, the lesser known rural LGBT community activists work with as much dedication and commitment as the urban LGBT community in advancing towards our cause for equality and non discrimination,. In that context and need, celebrating pride month in small cities and towns across India is of utmost importance. I am happy and proud that I have taken this initiative to celebrate Kovai Pride. To begin with, celebrated Kovai Rianbow Festival in Coimbatore with superbly organized events which highlighted the LGBT communities true and beautiful identities..
Kovai Rainbow Festival was celebrated throughout August 2010 in the city of Coimbatore with great participation from the public and the colorful presence of the LGBT communities.
In July 2010, I launched my dream project 'PROJECT KALKI'. Visit our PROJECT KALKI's websitehttp://projectkalki.blogspot....
Project Kalki is the voice of the voiceless. Transgender women, all over the world, have been the most marginalised, stigmatised and discriminated community for centuries. Except in Tamilnadu, our voices have not been heard anywhere in India.
This is a project to empower those women to speak who have not spoken, to hear their voices. To empower them to tell the world what they wanted to say through video films. As citizens of this great country, transgender women also care about other under privileged people and care about social problems of this country.
In this dream project, Kalki provides a Canon Legria FS 200 hanycam to seven under privileged transgender women. They are also provided with all the accessories needed for filming. These women carry the camera in their hands for a few days and shoot their stories and subjects. After one person completes the filming, she hands it over to the next girl. When all the seven girls finish their shoots, their films are edited and made as short documentary films by themselves.
The subjects these girls have chosen are all unique. For example, Gomathi wants to do a short documentary on street children, Sandhiya wants to do a story on abandoned aged people and Monal does a story on garbage pickers. Some girls have chosen the subject of their relationships.
These films will be screened in India and internationally.
This is a project to provide under privileged transgender women education, especially multimedia skills, develop them as community journalisms and make them stand up in their lives with dignity.
Kalki -The life and times of an Indian transwoman
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