Thousands Mourn

Transgender women in India face bias despite laws, says activist | Reuters

By Rina Chandran MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Transgender women in India face persistent bias that denies them education and jobs despite India having progressive laws for transgender people, according to a leading activist.In a landmark judgment in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that transgender people had equal rights under the law, and granted legal status to the third gender.Alongside the right to marry and inherit property, they are also eligible for quotas in jobs and educational institutions.But most of India's estimated 2 million transgender people face discrimination from a young age with transgender women particularly abused, reflecting the entrenched patriarchy in the country, said Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, a founder of the Asia Pacific Transgender Network. She said many transgender people are thrown out of their homes by their families, lack a formal education and are denied jobs. They are forced into sex work, begging or dancing at weddings to make a living."We have among the most progressive laws for transgender people: the 2014 judgment gives us the right to choose our gender identity, so if I believe I'm a woman, I'm a woman," Laxmi said at a panel hosted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Asia Society on Monday."But people are still biased.