Specially-abled Kiran Nayak striving for transgender rights

Hyderabad: Since the annulment of Article 377 two years ago, the members of LGBTQ in India are still battling to come out of the closet — especially those who live in the rural areas. However, a 35-year-old transgender from Warangal, Kiran Nayak, is not only happily married but is also working for the rights of […]

Hyderabad: Since the annulment of Article 377 two years ago, the members of LGBTQ in India are still battling to come out of the closet — especially those who live in the rural areas. However, a 35-year-old transgender from Warangal, Kiran Nayak, is not only happily married but is also working for the rights of specially-abled transgenders in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Born in a tribal community, Kiran was afflicted with polio when he was only three years old and eventually started using a wheelchair.

“‘I was assigned female at birth, and my family was quite happy. However, from the beginning, I was confused about my gender, and that impacted my social relationships. Most students in my class — both boys and girls — avoided me. I had very few friends,” he says. It was during his school years that Kiran shunned the female name given by his parents and embraced a gender-neutral name.

Life was never easy for Kiran, but he didn’t fail to smile while facing every challenge.

“I met Kavya, who is now my wife, in school. But homosexual marriage, that too in an Adivasi community, was out of bounds. Despite all the problems, we decided to tie the knot in Tirupati in 2008. We were targeted and harassed by our families. Things were so bad, that we considered committing suicide,” he says.

Sangama Crisis Centre, a Bengaluru-based organisation for sexual minorities, came to the duo’s rescue and helped Kiran join a fellowship programme. Since then, Kiran has been working as an activist for specially-abled people in the transgender community, and feels like there is a lot to do in the area.

“Even after the annulment of Article 377, the LGBTQ community is still trying to make their place in the society. Many people are still earning as sex workers, several are living with HIV/AIDS but have no money to access medical facilities. Moreover, those who are disabled in the community have no aid at all. Over the years, I have conducted several workshops for the members of the community as well as other activists, on various topics ranging from mental and physical health issues faced by the transgender people, to employment opportunities and even political leadership training,” says Kiran, whose foundation KVS has 8,642 members with disability (physical, visual and multiple disabilities).

His other organisation — Society for Transmen Action and Rights group (STAR) — which was started to support trans men has 86 active members.

For his efforts to build networks of transgender persons, increasing their access to sexual and reproductive health and mental health services, the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) honoured Kiran with the Helen Keller Award in 2020.

“There are two transgender clinics in Hyderabad. However, there is so much more to be done. Society and government have to work hand-in-hand to ensure that members of LGBTQ community can earn a respectful living and find a place. We are working towards their access to government entitlements, livelihood and loans, among others,” he concludes.

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