Dalit Trans Face Abuse for Raising Funds for Gender Care Surgery

The word “Dalit” is often synonymous with the words oppressed or even broken and the people that belong to this “community” are often referred to as untouchables. However, untouchability was abolished in India in 1950 but as one would say “force of habit”, the practice of untouchability is still present in many regions of India. There are around 200 million Dalits in India out of a population of 1.3 billion.

In India, transgender or intersex people are often referred to as “Hijras” and many Indians believe that they can either curse or bless people. Many scholars believe when the British colonised India, they brought a strict sense of judgement regarding the trans people calling them “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and that too many are assumed the beginning of discomfort in India with sexuality, transgender people, “The Hijras”.

Now is when Rishikesh Raut enters the picture, born into a Bahujan family, their mother runs an ironing shop and their father is a personal driver. Raut is a 23-year-old, non-binary transgender person from Pune.

According to a 2011 census, there are around 4.88 lakh transgender people in India and they often

They recently started an online fundraiser on a platform called Ketto, hoping to raise money for gender care surgery. Sharing it on social media didn't prove to be easy for Raut as they started facing a lot of hate in the form of abuse, misgendering and slur. Someone is quoted to have said, “stop begging and get a job”.

Raut defended, “I feel like they target my confidence and want to break me as a person, It is very sad, but they feel I am not equal and that I am disgusting, that I am a creep, there have been horrible threats but I will still occupy my space”

“They don’t want me to stand equally in the world, but I will make sure that I fight for myself and the community.” - Rishikesh Raut

It is said that, when Raut came out of the closet, their family did not support them rather they put Raut through conversion therapy. Raut has been working with MIST, an LGBTQ+ foundation in Pune to create a safe and creative space for the queer community.

Raut’s post is said to have comments like “lazy” and scammer because it is believed that trans people cannot be trusted and they would do anything to manipulate to make money and a common way that is stereotyped is trans people make money by being sex workers or begging. It did not stop there, people on Raut’s social media went from only throwing out slurs to commenting on death wishes.

According to Raut, gender care surgeries are necessary to many trans people because apparently without, they are said to be suffering from dysphoria. They have gone on record as to having said “Living every day in a body that feels alien to us is not fun”

Even with legalisation and being referred to as a “third gender”, trans people, no matter where they are from or what they are doing, trans people are always in the vicinity of abuse. Raut, being a Dalit, had no support whatsoever from their family and matter were made even worse when a society, a “progressive” society constantly people that belong to the trans community.

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