Manipur’s first transwoman doc symbol of hope for Nupi Maanbis

Beoncy Laishram

has been a warrior all her life, but the tag of

Covid

warrior pleases her best. This 27-year-old resident medical officer at a private hospital in Imphal is not just Manipur’s first and only

transwoman

doctor, she is also NE’s first transgender doctor and a symbol of hope for the state’s highly visible yet marginalised Nupi Maanbi (transwoman) community.

Today, as this former student of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Imphal participates in the fight against Covid, it is easy to overlook the hardships she has faced in her journey from Kakwa Leiphrakpam Leikai in Imphal West to being a

doctor

fighting a

pandemic

. Every day, however, feels like a gift to Beoncy, who once went by the name of Boboi Laishram.

“I was born a boy, but by the time I was in Class IX or X, I did not identify as male. I got through MBBS at RIMS in 2011, and decided to come out to my family in 2013. My father was so upset he tried to kill himself,” she recalls. “I went right back into the closet. Around 2016, I realised I could no longer live that life. It was then that I began openly identifying as a Nupi Maanbi,” she told TOI. She officially changed her name to Beoncy in 2013, when she participated in the high-profile beauty pageant Miss Trans Queen Northeast.

Beoncy today is better off than many of her community members in Manipur, where gender plurality has existed for long, and is accepted if not welcomed. She has repaired ties with her parents and is in a long-term relationship. She has supportive colleagues and a space to call her own in the hospital, which she joined late last year. She no longer has to fight for access to basics like a washroom where she feels comfortable.

“I look like a woman now, so no one realises I am a transperson until they hear my voice. Some people are startled, but that’s it,” said Beoncy, who identifies as a post-operative transwoman after undergoing sex reassignment surgery in Puducherry. She also helps more disadvantaged Nupi Maanbis get access to healthcare.

“Human beings are all equal. We didn’t look at Beoncy’s gender while hiring her. There was some curiosity among the staff initially, but that was all,” said noted surgeon Sorokhaibam Jugindra, medical superintendent of

Shija Hospitals

and Research Institute, where Beoncy works. “While Nupi Maanbis do need to get out of the rut they often find themselves in, it’s also up to us to give them opportunities they deserve,” said the doctor.

The pandemic has been hard on the Nupi Maanbis. Many members who had found work and independence in the thriving beauty parlour industry in Imphal have been rendered jobless. For them, stories like Beoncy’s are important. “She represents aspiration among the Nupi Maanbis. We don’t just work as beauticians,” said the state’s most prominent trans activist, Santa Khurai of All Manipur Nupi Maanbi Association. Beoncy, too, is not content to rest on her laurels and is preparing for the postgraduation entrance exam.


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