Even in the year 2018, despite us claiming to be ‘woke’, ‘progressive’, ‘open-minded’ and whatnot, certain communities still face blatant discrimination. Yes, our sanskar and traditions are rich and beautiful. But they are also outdated and have pushed down on some among us, for centuries. I am of course speaking of the LGBTQ community. It is a fact that, in the last few years, India has started being more receptive to them. The acceptance of transgenders as a third gender, by the Supreme Court in 2014 is one such pivotal moment.
However, we have a very long way to go still. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, trans individuals are still met with ridicule or disgust by many. And it is downright unacceptable when the culprits are educational institutions.
30-year old Suchitra Dey has a double MA in Geography and English, and 10 years of experience as an educator.
She had hoped her qualifications would suffice for her interviewers when she applied for teaching positions in schools. However, they overlooked her capabilities and resorted to digging into her choice to undergo sex-reassignment surgery (SRS) in 2017.
Hiranmay Dey started her teaching career in a school in Kolkata about a decade ago, before having her gender reassigned and taking on the name, Suchitra Dey.
And this wasn’t something her prospective employers could accept. Speaking to Indian Express, Suchitra says:
“My educational qualification or 10 years of experience didn’t matter to them. When they looked at me, all they could see was a man who had transformed into a woman. Nothing else mattered because, if one belongs to the third gender in this country, ridicule is a way of life.”
And it wasn’t just one school who had such incompetent mindsets. Suchitra recounts some of the questions she had to face, which are downright cruel:
Overcome by these sort of responses, Suchitra wrote to the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) on June 11.
She says:
“I couldn’t handle the humiliation anymore. The things I have been asked by authorities at ‘reputed’ schools of Kolkata shows the kind of mindset people still hold about our community. If someone like me, who is educated and experienced, has to face this then imagine the plight of those who don’t have the opportunity to go to school, or the ones who have been ostracised.”
She raises the valid question of what can be expected of others if teachers who are considered future generation makers have such a mindset.
She is currently a teacher at the same school where she had begun her teaching career.
Indian Express quotes her as:
“Everyone there has always been extremely cooperative. The management was happy to let me rejoin after the surgery and I finally started leading my life as a woman. I currently teach students from classes V to X.”
Suchitra is a resident of Thakurpukur, where she lives with her mother. Speaking to NDTV, she remarks how she needs a job to sustain herself and her old mother. “If every section of the society rejects us, then how will we live?” she asks.
A member of the West Bengal Transgender Development Board and Kolkata-based transgender activist, Ranjita Sinha spoke about the matter as such:
Suchitra’s experience does raise the need for better awareness among the Indian society. At a time like this, educational institutions and educators should be at the forefront of bringing up better future citizens instead of setting the same old examples of prejudice. We hope, Suchitra’s story and her petition put things in motion for a better tomorrow.