Indian Transgenders blamed for spread of COVID-19
If you talk to Transgenders (Hijras), you will get infected by Coronavirus", read a few posters on the walls of a metro station in Hyderabad, India.
Identifying as a transgender person in India is generally synonymous with the term Hijra. A community that has been victimized for decades for not conforming to the two gendered status quo. A trans-child becomes a Hijra when their family forces them to either leave their home or 'act normal'.
The inability to define one’s gender within the tick boxes of male or female, makes trans-children dysphoric about their identity, especially in a country culturally driven nation like India. The estranged child then joins the Hijra clan-a cultural group of transgender persons-which is generally found begging- from one car to another on traffic signals or sex work if earnings fall short.
After a long, arduous battle by Trans-activists, the Supreme court of India passed Transgendered Persons(Protection of Rights) Bill in 2019 that allowed access to employment, education and identity cards to anyone who identifies as a 'transgender person' in India. This judgement was monumental as it allowed trans-identities to live like any other citizen of the country.
However, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has revealed a different story. Despite being declared as the 'Third Gender', the community is getting blamed for being the vector of coronavirus in Hyderabad, India. This rumour has pushed them into further marginalization, especially when they cannot afford to work because of the lockdown and social distancing.
Moreover, the trans-bill was passed in December 2019, which did not give them enough time to get their identity cards made before the pandemic's arrival. Resulting in the names of Hijra community being omitted by almost all the state governments in the distribution of COVID-19 relief packages and other welfare schemes.
Tinesh Chaubey, is an Advocacy Manager at Humsafar Trust, a leading non-profit that has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights in India since the past 21 years. In the following audio clip, he describes the chaos engulfing the lives of Indian trans-persons during the lockdown.
Tinesh believes that the Hyderabad incident stems from the stigma of Trans-persons being infected by HIV because of their involvement in sex work. He expresses concerns that coronavirus might reverse their organization's years of efforts in campaigning for AIDS awareness. Apart from the shortage of money, the sudden lockdown enforcement has also cut down access to ART medications necessary for HIV/AIDS infected patients undergoing treatment. Even, the transpersons in the process of sex-change surgery are worried about not being able to continue their hormone therapy necessary for sex-transition.
Tinesh is also concerned about the rising domestic violence cases against the LGBTQ+ community have increased manifolds since the day Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a national lockdown, i.e. the 23rd of March,2020. He has been receiving approximately 200 SOS calls daily related to depression and anxiety on his number itself.
In response to the current state of affairs, Amnesty International India along with several transgender rights activists, have released an appeal to chief ministers of all Indian states to take action and provide relief to the Hijra community.
"Any life is life. When it comes to food, when it comes to 2 to 3 square meals a day, I don't think it should matter who is male, female, or transgender."
– Vyjayanti, Researcher and Rights activist at Amnesty
There are also apprehensions of a surge in cases of sexually transmitted infections – especially HIV after the lockdown ends as the demand for sex work is likely to shoot up. There is an increased pressure on NGOs like Humsafar Trust to check on COVID-19 spread along with AIDS / HIV infections, especially after incidents like in Hyderabad.
More than worrying about social distancing, the Hijras are battling sexism and food crisis daily, which speaks volumes about the lack of representation of trans-community in modern India.
