For over a decade, activist Shreegauri Sawant has been at the forefront of a battle for acceptance of transgender persons in society. From filing petitions for adoption rights for transgenders, and for recognising them as a third gender, she has been a prominent voice of change in the community and beyond. In a quick chat with us, she speaks about what changes she’s seen over the years when it comes to the queer community and what hurdles still persist. Excerpts:
Shreegauri Sawant
‘The transgender community is subjected to discrimination even today’Drawing parallels with Women’s Day, Gauri makes a good point about lip service and no strong action. “Pride celebrations cannot just be a month-long affair where organisations can act as per their convenience for optics. It’s just like how the entire world has opinions on women’s empowerment around Women’s Day celebrations. In both cases, we do lip service as per convenience and then conveniently forget about sustained action for long term benefits,” Shreegauri says. She acknowledges the change in perception though. “Over the years, with Pride Marches and related activities done by the queer community, Indian society has come to a point where it at least acknowledges our presence. Whether they accept us as we are is another fight,” she shares, adding, “The transgender community is subjected to discrimination even today. Yes, we have official policies at workplaces but the implementation is a grey area, even in govt jobs like police recruitment.”
Over the years, with Pride Marches and related activities done by the queer community, Indian society has come to a point where it at least acknowledges our presence. Whether they accept us as we are is another fight
Shreegauri Sawant, activist
‘Not a struggle that’ll end soon’Ravi Jadhav’s Taali, featuring Sushmita Sen, took Shreegauri’s story to lakhs of people around the world, making it a big thing for the entire transgender community. In an earlier interview with us, Shreegauri had said, “Aap humko koi aam insaan ki tarah dikhao. Tab humein log job denge. There is no need to show a transgender as a dark character or a person who only has hardships. Hum koi abla naari nahi hai, aur na hi bhagwan hai jo sirf ashirwad de sakte hai. Focus on showing us as someone having a career, relationships etc.” The sentiment reflects in the work she does. Has screen representation changed for the better though, we ask her and she says, “Unfortunately not much. For every good thing, there is something that takes us back 20 years. But yes, things are gradually changing.”
Sushmita Sen in a still from Taali
‘Acceptance has increased’Among the biggest changes she has seen is the acceptance from families. “I still don’t know whether it comes from fear of losing your child or from actually understanding that people can have different gender and sexual identities. But acceptance, specifically from families of queer individuals, has increased. I cannot say the same about society at large. At least not yet. For example, we have the jogtin tradition in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana and jogtis are honoured by people. But, if they walk into a place wearing jeans and shirts instead of the traditional attire, would they be accepted? So there’s still a lot to change. For now, it’s just heartening to be able to have sane conversations on queer identity with different people,” says Shreegauri on a concluding note.