‘TG’ we’re on the ballot, say transgenders in Bengal

KOLKATA: For 1,426 voters in Bengal, a small step inside the polling booth this time means the culmination of a long journey, starting at "Male/Female" and ending at the preferred destination - "

Third Gender

" - after transiting via the neither-here-nor-there "Other".


The

2019 Lok Sabha poll

is the first in which

Bengal's transgender community

is voting as the Third Gender, or "TG", hoping the nomenclature will go beyond mere representation in the voters' list to a level playing field in life and education, jobs and healthcare. Bengal is ahead of Gujarat (1,058) and Madhya Pradesh (1,424) in enrolment but lags behind UP, which has registered 8,426 transgenders, and Karnataka (6,132). Jadavpur (74) and Raiganj

(73) have the highest number of TG voters in Bengal; Bishnupur has the lowest (8), with Kolkata North a bit ahead (15).

Bengal's transgenders

used to vote as either male or female till the EC, taking a cue from Supreme Court's recognition of the community as a separate third gender, registered them as people "other than male or female"; they voted as "Other" for the first time in the 2016 Vidhan Sabha polls.

Revision of rolls this year has prompted 1,426 transgenders to enrol as "TG," though community members claim several thousand could not register for lack of documents.

"It is a good initiative and a step towards recognising our right to a dignified life. But this must prompt parties to increase interaction with our community and governments must formulate policies to help us," Kiran, a "TG" from Baruipur, said.