From victim to victor

Y Maheswara Reddy
First Published : 27 Mar 2010 09:59:00 AM IST

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=From+victim+to+victor&artid=A5egG84o8u0=&SectionID=f4OberbKin4=&MainSectionID=f4OberbKin4=&SEO=&SectionName=cxWvYpmNp4fBHAeKn3LcnQ==

Life for the 6,000 transgenders in Bangalore would become miserable if they were not aware of their rights and privileges in society. If it comes to atrocities on transgenders, sex workers and eunuchs, the police station is the first place. Be it using filthy language or extracting money from them, the police lag behind none. Rowdy elements are another menace for transgenders.

Perhaps, it was the police atrocities and the government's apathy towards sexual minorities that made Veena S, a transgender from a Dalit family, contest the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike election from the Okalipuram ward where around 100 transgenders live. "There are people even to count the dogs in Bangalore but none to notice sexual minorities. We have to struggle a lot even for basic amenities," says Veena.