Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Mona Mahant, who voted on Sunday, said, “We get sympathy, but what we want is empathy. I have exercised my right to vote today because we seek inclusion in society. We want to be seen as equals. I want to be counted as one with the other sexes and voting is the first step to that.”
Ritika, a trans-activist of the city, said, “Many of the transgenders who have come out face discrimination. Many don’t even tell the world. A third gender going to vote is still rare. It’s an act of courage.”
Deepak Rana, CEO of Shan Foundation which works for the LGBT community, said, “As many as 49,000 people in the country have been identified as transgender voters. Of these 40,000 are on the voting list. Of these, 90 per cent don’t go to vote. The main reason is discrimination by society. Despite laws, there is no implementation of the rights of the transgenders. Some parties reach out to us to seek blessings, but they don’t want us to be included as an active vote bank. Many transgender activists are used as TRPs or crowd-pullers, while at the ground level our rights are denied. Transgenders mostly lives as either males or females. Out of fear, they don’t even get documentation changed. Same is the reason behind low voter turnout among transgenders. Our question when will we count?”
