Why Kerala's new transgender policy could show other states in recognising...
Western culture likes binaries: life feels less threatening when we can separate good and evil into tidy heaps, when we split off the mind from the body, when men are masculine and women are feminine....
View ArticleTransgender activists seek free sex-change surgery
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13 (IANS) India's transgender (TG) community on Friday raised its concern over mounting expenses involved in sex reassignment surgery (SRS) in the country, demanding...
View ArticleTamil Nadu, once a pioneering state for welfare of transgenders, now shuns...
The jasmine scented smoke from the incense sticks clouds the office as K Jeeva puts away her work for the next meeting. Her hands move nimbly across the desk and sift through the files before...
View ArticleUse of race in political party's name not objectionable: Election Commission
--> Sat, 17 Sep 2016-08:25pm , New Delhi , PTI A plea filed had sought direction from EC to parties such as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam as they contain the...
View ArticleDMK poaching MDMK cadre, says Vaiko
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko has accused Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M.K. Stalin of poaching his partymen with the promise of ticket for contesting the Assembly...
View ArticleCandidates see green shoots in an arid constituency
Scanty rainfall over the past decade, poor irrigation infrastructure, and the long-pending proposal on Cauvery-Gundar rivers inter-linking project are some major issues that have come to the fore in...
View ArticleVaiko hopes DMDK will join hands with PWF
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has been hijacked by the corporate, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko has alleged. Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Mr. Vaiko said...
View ArticleFirst ever data on US transgender surgeries reveals huge surge in demand:...
The first ever data on gender reassignment surgeries in the United States shows demand is skyrocketing. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons found a nearly 20 percent increase in vaginoplasties,...
View ArticleTamil Nadu Elections 2016: Here's a quick look at the key parties, alliances...
--> Alliances have changed and so have equations between party leaders in Tamil Nadu for the upcoming elections. The 2016 Tamil Nadu polls have been touted as a multi-cornered contest with so many...
View ArticleJ Jayalalithaa (1948-2016): The doughty fighter who earned her place in the...
At the funeral of the iconic MG Ramachandran, the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, in 1987, a solitary woman stood her ground behind his mortal remains. The sadness was writ large on the face of the...
View ArticleWhere BJP, Congress & their maverick kingpins stand as election fever grips...
Of the four major states going to the polls in a couple of months — West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala — the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) chances are brightest in Assam and bleakest in Tamil...
View ArticleISRO chief among 60 Rajyotsava Award winners
The State government has chosen 60 people for Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, including Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar, cricketer Vinay Kumar, writer Aryambha Pattabhi,...
View ArticleDMK functionary held on charge of murder
A mason was brutally murdered by a political functionary as a dispute arose over illegal intimacy with a woman...
View Article24 candidates file papers in Kanyakumari district
As many as 24 candidates filed their nomination papers for the six Assembly constituencies in the district on Thursday. All the six All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidates, including former...
View ArticleFB’s 71 shades of sexuality raise hope and fear
For a new user, choosing the gender option on Facebook while setting up the account is not a routine task. The drop down menu consists of man, woman and, intriguingly enough, custom. Facebook offers to...
View ArticleHinduism is based on logic; Sabarimala shrine must allow entry of women:...
Swami Bhoomananda Theertha's fight for reforms in temple rituals and religious practices began decades ago. The renowned Vedantin monk based in Kerala was one of the first to demand that women of all...
View ArticleLGBT community questions PM Modi’s silence, says govt has ‘fascist mindset’
Member of India’s LGBT (Lesbians Gays Bisexuals Transgenders) community shout slogans during a parade in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)...
View ArticleLGBT community snubs "fascist" Govt., questions PM Modi's silence
Bengaluru (Karnataka), July 1 (ANI): Expressing disappointment over India's move to abstain from voting in the UN Human Rights Council to appoint an independent investigator to help protect the rights...
View ArticleTamil Nadu state’s political religion of Dravidianism
Why was Jayalalithaa, like several of the state’s chief ministers, buried, not cremated, and what is Dravidianism? A look at the political religion of Tamil Nadu, who follows it, and why it died. When...
View ArticleIndia’s linguistic imperialism: Tamil Nadu resents central imposition of...
News Comments // There is a popular saying in Tamil Nadu which approximately says not to waste their time on unproductive things like an idling person having found no employment or work to be busy...
View ArticleHuman Rights Watch Country Profiles: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The following are excerpts from the Human Rights Watch 2017 World Report that relate to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. The report, released in January...
View ArticleFreebie furore! And thereby hangs a tale
Otherwise bitter political rivals, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) undoubtedly agree on one point: both believe their extravagant electoral...
View ArticleList of candidates belonging to DMK and AIADMK fronts
The following is the list of candidates of the fronts led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: Tiruvallur District: A.Manimegalai (DMK) and Pon. Raja...
View ArticleLalitha Kala Akademi to hold culture fest for transgender community
KOCHI: Pressing ahead with its programmes to initiate an inclusive contemporary cultural discourse with focus on building resistance to emerging fascist tendencies, the Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi is...
View ArticleTamil Nadu election: 19 more caste outfits pledge support to DMK
CHENNAI: Representatives of nine dalit groups and ten other outfits pledged their support to DMK on Tuesday, in the presence of party treasurer M K Stalin and senior leaders like R S...
View ArticleEverything you need to know about being gay in Muslim countries
The official fiction, Brian Whitaker explains, is that gay people don’t exist in the Middle East. They do – and for many of them, the attitudes of family and society are a much bigger problem than the...
View ArticleFinally, our voices are being heard in God's Own Country
I am gay, I am lesbian, I am transgender, I am intersex..." screamed the members of the LGBT community as they moved through the streets of Kozhikode. People crowded around them, some curious, others...
View ArticleIndia abstains from UN vote on LGBT rights watchdog; activists slam PM Modi's...
-->"India not supporting it in UN shows you are homophobic and a biphobic," said transgender activist Akkai Padmashali. Expressing disappointment over India's move to abstain from voting in the UN...
View ArticleNot My Rights Movement
Currently, LGBTIQCAPGNGFNBA is believed to be the world’s longest acronym used to describe human sexual orientations and gender identities. Chances are it’s already been surpassed by an even longer...
View ArticleFifty-fifty: Half a century of Dravidian rule
After delivering a lecture on the state of the transgender community at a Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association function recently, transgender activist Priya Babu was faced with a...
View ArticleKerala to host first sports meet exclusively for transgender athletes
Kerala will hold an exclusive day-long transgender athletic meet, a first in the country, at the central stadium in the state capital on April 28. The event reflects the state’s policy to stop the...
View Article“I Want to Live With My Head Held High”
Summary In recent years the government of Bangladesh has taken important steps toward acknowledging and protecting hijras, but the implementation of promising decrees and programs has exposed hijras to...
View Article85 candidates in the fray from Thoothukudi
A total of 85 candidates are in the fray in the six Assembly constituencies, District Election officer M. Ravikumar said here on Monday after releasing the list of candidates. In Thoothukudi...
View ArticleRight is might
We all know of their stories of pain, loss and struggles, but that they also rise above all of it, is not a usual narrative for the society. With Akkai Padmashali receiving the State Rajyotsava Award —...
View ArticleTransgender? A Doctor Won’t See You Now
Trans patients face do-or-die situations when trying to find transition care. But the medical community is not ready for them. Shop ▾ “This is not about [some hazy notion of] being able to be who you...
View Article“All Five Fingers Are Not the Same”
Summary All five fingers are not the same…. People should be respected for who they are. —Thehan, 43-year-old gay man, Colombo, November 2015 In Sri Lanka, there are two frames: man and woman. Society...
View ArticleLiberty, equality, identity: Giving wings to the transgender community in India
In April last year, the Rajya Sabha passed The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, heralding the first steps towards equality for the transgender (TG) community. Paving the way for a law, the...
View ArticleIndian ad with transgender mom stirs debate -- and tears
New Delhi (CNN)An advert challenging the norms of a traditional family in India has gone viral, with more than 9 million views on YouTube. The ad's storyline pushes the issue of transgender rights...
View ArticleBreaking down the difference between gender identity and sex
As transgender rights are being threatened and fought for across the country, trans celebrities and LGBTQ activists are challenging the rest of us to see sex and gender identity as two entities. But...
View Article“I Want to Be Like Nature Made Me”
Summary Reader Advisory: This report contains graphic descriptions of traumatic experiences, often affecting children. Intersex people in the United States are subjected to medical practices that can...
View Article‘I am 100% sure we will find archaeological remains’: Researcher who aims to...
Alok Tripathi is a man on a mission. Last year, the marine archaeologist submitted a proposal to the Indian Council of Historical Research, a funding body for academic research in history, in which he...
View ArticleIf SC lifts ban, will Malayali women go to Sabarimala?
After a 31-year-old woman made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, where female devotees in the 10-50 age group are not permitted, the discussion on whether all...
View ArticlePromised empowerment of trans people and the new dealers of a false liberty
Stop Watch: In Northern Ireland, time stops still for you to take in some stunning landscapes and rich historyWhere we belong: The fight of Parsi women in interfaith marriagesDown in jungleland: Sucker...
View ArticleTTV Dhinakaran takes oath as MLA
Dhinakaran criticises members of ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for working for their ‘own selfish motive’ Last Published: Fri, Dec 29 2017. 10 39 PM IST Chennai: T.T.V....
View Article“No Choice but to Deny Who I Am”
Summary In mid-September 2009, the District Chief Executive in my town called me for a meeting…I was taken to the conference room and made to sit in the middle of about 50 people. They asked me if I...
View ArticleCommuters struggle as TN bus strike enters 6th day
[India], Jan. 09 (ANI): Hundreds of commuters are struggling to reach places in Tamil Nadu as the indefinite strike called by transport unions, demanding a pay hike among other things, entered the...
View ArticleEfforts on to frame guidelines for transgenders’ sex change surgery
A group of doctors and community activists came together on Tuesday to stress the need for uniform guidelines in India for sex reassignment surgery (SRS) for transgenders, which is lacking now. A...
View ArticleNotes from the margins..
As we ready to observe Intersex Awareness Day on October 26, Yogesh Pawar explores whether the prejudice, bigotry and marginalisation the interesex community faces is changing at all in India An...
View ArticleGender is about the right to choose: Akkai Padmashali
At the age of 12, Akkai Padmashali, troubled by her gender identity, grappled with suicide. Luckily, life had other things in store and today, she has emerged as the face of transgender welfare in the...
View Article