I just came across a piece in today’s Times of India which says that the Government of Tamil Nadu’s Civil Supplies Department has decided to allow transsexuals to identify themselves using the letter ‘T‘ while applying for ration cards. I couldn’t find a link to the article on their website although I did find an article which deals with the response to the government’s action. [1]
While looking for the link, I discovered that in 2004, the Madras High Court had directed the Government of Tamil Nadu to inform it ‘about the action being taken on a circular from the Election Commission about issuance of identity cards to ‘aravanis’ (eunuchs)’. [2]
I don’t know much about about the rights (or lack thereof) of sexual minorities but I was nonetheless very surprised to see this news come out of Tamil Nadu since I’ve always thought of it as a particularly conservative state. However, when I thought about it, I realised that that opinion is based on what little I’ve seen of people from the state, and every single person I know is from just one caste.
(The reason I know their caste is because, amazingly enough, they’ve all told me their caste within days of my first meeting them. They’re all educated and they’re all phenomenally proud of their caste. So much for social integration!)
Links:
[1] timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Response_to_TN_govt_scheme_overwhelming/articleshow/2870041.cms[2] timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/540464.cms
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