Laxmi Narayan Tripathi on transgender identity and her battles for equality

The theorisation that "gender is fluid" is commonly spoken of nowadays. But, how difficult is it to embody this fluidity and live it every moment of our lives in a society whose structures reinforce gender duality?

Transgender rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi came to the Jaipur Literature Festival on the final day to give a deeply moving and inspiring session on the multiple marginalities and everyday exploitation faced by her community.

With supreme self-confidence and infectious charm, Tripathi infused a story of deep dejection with the light of her self-assertion and persistent determination to own her identity. No wonder that merely at the age of 36, her life story is one of the most remarkable ones ever heard.

Here are five things her life and words teach us about the transgender rights movement.

On coming out

"Main jab mummy ke baahar aayi toh baahar hi aa gayi."

Laxmi argued that the act of  "coming out" was a luxury that wasn't afforded to the transgender community. Transgender people like her never get the chance to come to terms with their identity. Their birth is their coming out moment. From their first breath the world starts to tell them they're different and doesn't let them forget it.

On exploitation

"I was lucky enough that my parents never disowned me."

Tripathi explained how the vicious cycle of abuse of transgender individuals began at home. Abandoned by parents, they were forced to live on the streets, suffer sexual abuse for paltry sums of money or resort to begging or the "badhai system" commonly associated with this community. Family support received by Laxmi was crucial for her life to turn out differently.

On social provisions

"After two incidents in the restroom, I never went to the restroom of my college."

Mentioning the abuse she has faced in her own life in places like restrooms, Tripathi argued that public laws and public spaces needed to be transformed to protect the hijra community, a change that was slowly taking place. Whether it was property rights or section 377, laws still had far to go to accommodate hijra self-autonomy.

On learning to say no

"My first abuse happened.. daraya, dhamkaya. Ab koi mard nahi daraataa hai, dhamkaataa hai. Main hi daraa deti hoon."

Speaking of her own history of being subject to repeated abuse as a child, Tripathi spoke about how in sixth standard she learnt the art of saying no. She decided to fight back and demand to be treated as more than a sexual object. She even mustered up the courage to speak about it in her biography. She has never looked back.

On identity

"I am neither a woman nor a man. I am a hijra."

Tripathi boldly states that she is a hijra who enjoys femininity and that is how she wishes to be accepted. She has no qualms admitting it. Hailing the remarkable Supreme court verdict, she believes that India has recognised transgender rights. While the journey is far from complete, the foundation of this journey remains in her firm individual self.