Transgender Rights in Tamil Nadu

Transgenders are called hijras in India and are often discriminated against in jobs forcing them to resort to begging and prostitution. They meet in Koovagam, a village in the Ulundurpet taluk in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu in the Tamil month of Chitrai (April/May) for an annual festival which takes place for fifteen days.

Tamil Nadu has made great strides in trying to integrate the transgenders into the society. This includes welfare schemes initiated by the Government and acceptance of transgenders into the mainstream media and film industry.

Welfare Schemes
In a pioneering effort to solve the problems faced by the transgenders, Tamil Nadu (a state in South India) government has established a transgender welfare board in April 2008. Social welfare minister will serve as the president of the board. This effort is touted to be the first in India and even in the world. The government has also started issuing separate food ration cards for transgenders.

In additional effort to improve the education of transgenders, Tamil Nadu government also issued an order on May 2008 to create a third gender for admissions to government colleges.

The Government has also decided to conduct a census on the transgender population in order to issue identity cards.

TV
In a monumental push in breaking taboos, the Tamil cable channel Vijay TV started a talk show hosted by a transexual called Rose. The programme is called "Ippadikku Rose", translated into Yours, Rose.

Movie
Karpaga, a transgender born in Erode, Tamil Nadu performs a lead role in a new Tamil movie "Paal", thus becoming the first in India ever to achieve such a milestone.