At a meagre 17%, transsexual votes still remain hidden in Tamil Nadu

Madurai: The poor turnout of transsexuals voters in the Lok Sabha election, 17.46%, has brought to fore the troubled existence of the third gender in the society and their continuing disillusionment with the government over their neglect.

On Friday, chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo said that of the total of 5,790 transsexual voters, only 1,011 had cast their votes. In the southern districts, it was only 180 (15.84%) of the total 1,136 transsexuals in the 10 constituencies with the lowest being at Ramanathapuram (4.88%) where only four among the 88 voted. Madurai was an exception with 55.2% of the 96 transsexuals casting their votes. However, of the 60 assembly segments in these 10 parliamentary constituencies, the turnout was zero in 30.

“The voter’s identity card is the only government-authorized proof to recognize us as citizens of the country,” said transsexual activist Barathi Kannamma, 62, of Madurai who was among the first transsexuals to contest the election as a transsexual in 2004. Chennai-based Transgender Rights Association founder and director R Jeeva and Madurai-based Transgender Resource Centre founder Priya Babu told TOI that according to the 2011 census there were more than 21,000 transsexuals in Tamil Nadu. This was much less than the actual figure of over 45,000 to 50,000 eight years ago when the census was conducted. Jeeva said that the rest identified themselves as women or as men as they hid their true identity fearing ostracization by their family.

In 1994-95, most transsexuals were enrolled as women in the voter’s list They had demanded a special camp to change their gender status from woman to transsexual following the 2012 Supreme Court verdict to include a third gender column, but the election commission was yet to hold it. “So the remaining transsexuals are enrolled as women in the voter’s list. Though enrolled in the voter’s list here they are mostly engaged in seeking alms in Mumbai and Delhi for a living,” she said. They didn’t find time to come back to their home towns to cast their vote as it would be an expensive affair. Barathi Kannamma said that poor turnout could also be due to dejection over the governments not doing anything for them.

Priya Babu said that another reason for their poor turnout could be the annual Koothanadavar remple festival at Koovagam in Villupuram district. “This year the festival was on April 16 and 17. The celebrations attended by transgenders from across India and also internationally ended late in the night on April 17. Many, including me, faced difficulty in getting back due to inadequate transport facilities,” she said.