Promoting Active Participation of Transgender Community in the Democratic Process

In the course of these workshops, it came to light that the problems faced by the transgender community are not limited only to voter registration

While implementing any policy, either public or private, its target audience is invariably assumed to be men and women only. Over the years, the system of gender binary has been so deeply ingrained in our psyche that we tend to overlook the existence of transgender persons or people who do not identify with the binary system. As a result, many policies in the government do not reflect the aspirations of this community. There are only a few people from the transgender community whose names are there on the voter list of Maharashtra state. In order to increase their number, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer has taken up many involvements in the past year.

Address proof and date of birth are required to register on the voter list. Most of the people from the transgender community leave their parent’s homes on attaining adolescence or are driven out of their homes and hence it is very difficult to find both these documents with them. There are many dynasties in the transgender community which is called Dayar. Guru-Shishya Parampara is prevalent amongst them and the transgender person takes shelter in the Guru’s home. The Election Commission of India has made a provision whereby people of the transgender community can produce their Guru’s affidavit as proof of address. However, fear of misuse of the affidavit by them in the future for staking a claim on the property resulted in reluctance on the part of Gurus to give such affidavits making this provision meaningless. Maharashtra State’s Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Shrikant Deshpande visited numerous people from the transgender community and organisations that work for their welfare. To understand the hurdles that they face in the voter registration process, Mr. Deshpande went beyond the scope of the government framework and met the doyens of the transgender community in Byculla, Mumbai.

After the above meeting, Mr. Deshpande vehemently took the task of removing the documentation-related hurdles in the process of voter registration as faced by the transgender community. He followed up with the Election Commission of India in New Delhi and has secured concessions for the transgender community with regards to their address and birth proofs whereby the concerned individuals from the transgender community can submit a self-declaration mentioning their age and address to get registered in the voters’ list. After granting this concession, the Chief Electoral Office has conducted many voters registration workshops and camps all over Maharashtra along with Mumbai Aids Control Society, Maharashtra Aids Control Society, CORO India, and many other organizations that work for the community.

In the course of these workshops, it came to light that the problems faced by the transgender community are not limited only to voter registration. They are struggling even for access to basic primary needs like food, clothing, and shelter.

They are unable to derive complete benefits from the government schemes because of the nature of constantly changing residences and their inability to provide any related documents. Till their basic needs are not addressed, the transgender community will not be able to actively participate in the democratic processes and systems in their truest sense. On the other hand, unless and until the transgender community asserts their electoral and voting rights, politicians will not understand their importance as eligible voters. With this background, the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra in collaboration with Savitri Bai Phule Pune University, Pune arranged a 2-day state level conference on the topic ‘Democracy Inclusion of Transgenders’ on 14th and 15th September 2022. The following sessions were organized in this conference: LGBTIQ – meaning and differences, conversion with successful members from the transgender community, transgender education and employment, interaction with parents who have accepted their child’s transgender status, transgenders’ portrayal & position in society with regards to language, art, cinema and journalism, transgenders’ health and shelter, what will we do for transgender. In this conference, hurdles faced by the transgender community in the Aadhaar registration, documentation for ration cards were also addressed by concerned departments. We are hopeful that they will soon get the benefits of reservation in employment as well.