Transgender enters poll fray
She is the first eunuch to contest election in South India
Draped in a maroon saree and with a body language to match, the 31-year old S Veena became arguably the first transgender to contest an election in South India, second only to Shabnam Mousi, a Hijra MLA from Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh.
Veena filed her nomination from Ward No. 96 (Okalipuram) for the upcoming Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections on Monday even as her supporters raised slogans - ‘Vote for Veena’ and ‘Veena zindabad.’
Veena's mother Munithayamma and sister Bhagya were at the BBMP office to support her. "I am very happy that my child is contesting the election, I will bless her and support her," said Munithayamma.
Born into a poor dalit family, Veena is confident of winning the elections. "Dogs are counted here, but sexual minorities are treated inferior to a dog. I want to raise the voice for my community people.
Besides, there are some basic civic problems in my ward. We do not have drinking water and proper toilets. Anganwadi in the Ward does not have permanent building," she says. Veena will be campaigning door to door and will request people to donate a meager amount of Rs one.
Asked her about how she would deal with the sexual minority groups who harass people at traffic junctions for tips, she answered that people who complain about hijras do not know how they actually ended up there.
"We have all lived a ruthless life where we were thrown out of the society and family. The hijras who ask for tips do not own the entire amount as they have to pay rowdies and policemen too," she said. Her advocate B T Venkatesh said, "They have been deprived of their identity for a very long time, it is high time they step into politics for their rights."
Born as a male, Veena completed her SSLC and later underwent sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and she has been living as a woman for the past 14 years. She is also the vice-president of Karnataka Sex Workers’ Union.
