The Scriptures of the Indian Civilization largely apply to everyone and not only to Hindus, though it has been categorised as exclusively Hindu. The scriptures speak about “Hijras” as a subset of the transgender community. Hijras, Kinnars, etc. are communities native to South Asia and only exist in India. They are one sub-group of the transgender community. It derives from the Arabic word, meaning “to migrate”, “to leave your home and tribe”, and “to make a journey”. They are not classified under males or females, the Hijra community is lobbying for recognition for themselves as a ‘third sex or gender’.
Read: LGBTQ & FAITH: MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD AND BEINGS IN HINDUISM
The Tritiya prakriti (nature) of beings is recognised by the Hindu/Indian scriptures, which are recalled to be more than 7,000 years old.
Transgenders Folks and Hijra Communities Are Not the Same
People often blur the lines between the transgender community and Hijras, though they have been there in ancient culture for a very long time, mostly living in female quarters of palaces, providing protection and teachings to royal females.
Difference between Transgenders and Hijras:
Transgender is the state in which a person’s gender identity does not match his/her physical/biological sex- this state is called gender dysphoria. Transgenders folks may or may not try to medically, or legally change their biological identity to fit in the binaries of Genders for themselves.
Hijra is a South Asian term used for males who have a physiological feminine gender identity. Hijras are organized communities comprised of males who express themselves socially as women and also the Intersex (people whose genitals are ambiguous due to genetic mutism) and eunuchs (castrated men), the Vedas condemn castration, though it was a common practise in and among Turks and Mughals.
Nirwaan is a religious act that is carried out by many Hijras at the initial stage. It consists of the removal of the male reproductive organs. Further, there are various festivals of the Hijras and they also have deities and patron Gods, all pointing towards their ancient presence in Indian culture.
Lord Iravana or Aravana is held as the God of the Third Sex. Earlier the status of the tritiya prakriti (nature/type of gender) or the third sex was protected and considered as natural as that of the binaries of males and females. However, the coming age of ethnic cleansing and invasion has affected these sections of people very much as the invaders mostly belonged to the Abrahamic Religions with one track ideology.
Is it true that ancient India accepted homosexuals and it was only after the British that it was abolished?
Ancient India was liberal in their way. They had orthodoxies but did not curb the individual rights. Ancient India didn’t much care about it separately, as it was as natural as the rising sun, and that’s different from acceptance.
Later the Hijra community and the acts of homosexuals were termed as sinful according to Quran and biblical scriptures. On the contrary, during the Mughal period, transgender people were also known as Hijra/ Eunuchs (or Kinnars) played a crucial role in the politics of empire-building. In the Mughal era, they occupied high positions as many influential figures such as officials, administrators, generals, and guardians of harems. Hijras were considered trustworthy, loyal, and clever, and had access to all members of the populace. For this reason, they played an important role in Mughal-era empire-building. Hijra/Eunuchs people were given respect during the Mughal era.
Though acts of homosexuality continued behind the walls of the rulers, and the castration of homosexual men, effeminate men continued. Interestingly the emperor Babur left behind manuscripts, that confessed his affections for a young man. All this means gay men have been there in Indian history, in all social classes.
Read: Jamali Kamali, hijron ka khanqah, Sarmad’s tomb — Delhi history’s safe spaces for LGBTQ
These communities are defined by their specific culture. They live together in groups, under a Guru-Chela (Master-Disciples) sort of setting where elder members of the community guide the younger ones, and help them earn their livelihood, although this is not without any return favours which may include a lot of things like submitting to the will of the master or sharing your earnings with them, etc.
Also, the hijra, kinnar and other such communities have existed from the time of creation and were first excluded from the social ladder entirely during colonial rule most likely (Under the rule of Hindu and Muslim kings, hijras were still excluded from the normal society most likely because of their inability to reproduce which was the most important thing then, but were still given jobs as attendants of the queens and princesses especially in the Mughal era and other jobs).
The Suffrage of the Third Gender or Tritiya Prakriti:
The onset of colonial rule in the 18th century, the situation of transgender people drastically changed. ‘Transgender' is a fairly new term. In recent context, the Hijra, intersex, non-binary and trans masc/femme, all fall under the term of Transgenders. However, most people in the Hijra community have to resort to begging, dancing in religious ceremonies, and prostitution to earn their livelihood. The social strata changed for them as Europeans criminalized their existence during the colonial rule.
Read: LGBTQ & Faith: Manifestations of God and Beings in Hinduism
It was seen that early European travellers reacted negatively to Hijras, and they were baffled as to why they were given so much respect by the royal courts. British colonial administrations actively pursued criminalized the Hijra community and denied them their civil rights during the second half of the 19th century. In different parts of India, the colonial authorities classified Hijras as separate castes or tribes. In 1871, the first Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) was passed by British India’s governor-general (the supreme ruler of the colonial authorities) which targeted ‘eunuchs’ (a stigmatizing colonial term for transgender). The policy which was initially implemented in northern India had been expanded several times, covering nearly the entirety of colonial India by the mid-1920s.
Read: Criminalization of transgender people in Colonial India: Criminal Tribes Act
Important Lingos:
The terminologies such as Hijra, Kinnar, and Aravani are used in different parts of India to describe those assigned male gender at birth who do not identify as men. They all fall under the umbrella term of Transgender (male-to-female).
- Hijra: Hijras are biological males who reject their masculine identity and identify either as women, or not-men, or in-between man and woman or neither man nor woman. Hijras live in communities having their initiation rituals. Each community lives under a Guru. Followers of the Guru are known as Chelas. Hijra communities are highly concentrated in the Mumbai-Thane belt. They are mainly engaged in professions like begging, dancing at weddings and blessing babies. They have their secret code language known as Hijra Farsi.
- Kinnar: This is the Hijra-equivalent terminology used in North India for male-to-female transpersons. Unlike Hijra’s, their community systems are not very strong. They live in smaller groups and, like Hijras, make a living by begging, dancing at weddings and blessing babies.
- Aravani: This is the term used for male-to-female transpersons in Tamil Nadu. They identify themselves as women trapped in male bodies. Another widely recognised Tamil term for transwomen is ‘Thirunangai’.
- Shiv-Shakthis: It is a community of transgenders in Andhra Pradesh. Shiv-Shakthis are males who are considered “possessed by” or “married to” the gods, particularly Lord Shiva. They have a feminine gender expression and cross-dress as women during religious rituals and festivals.
- Jogappas: They are found mainly in the Hubli-Dharwad region of North Karnataka. They are male-to-female transpersons who marry the Goddess Yellamma to become a woman. Jogappas make a living by begging in temples and neighbourhoods for alms and gifts from devotees and temple tourists.
Since it is difficult for them to find a living in mainstream society, a good number of them engage in sex work. Under India’s HIV/AIDS control programme, they are treated as a key population group for focussed HIV prevention efforts due to high HIV prevalence among them.
To know more, read:
Indian Law & The Third Gender Rights:
Transgender: Recognition as the third gender
Transgender people are individuals who differ from the stereotypes and existence of only two genders that is men and women; they have different appearance, personal characteristics and behaviour. Being different from the other gender, transgender people have been subject to social oppression as society does accept their gender identity and they suffer from the physical violence which is inflicted upon them.
The main problems from which they suffer are lack of education, unemployment, homelessness, lack of health care facilities, depression, alcohol abuse and discrimination throughout their life. To protect their rights and to solve their problems, The Constitution of India has provided them with their rights and The Supreme Court has given them the right to be recognized as “Third Gender” and provided them with some welfare measures.
Protected Rights:
Rights under the Indian Constitution:
The preamble to the constitution mandates every citizen Justice: — social, economic, and political equality of status.
The Indian state policy that earlier recognized only two sex i.e. only male and female has deprived the third gender of their several rights as Indian citizens, which includes the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to marry, the right to claim a formal identity through a passport etc. and more importantly their the right to education, employment, health so on. The basic rights that they were deprived of are their fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21. The rights of transgender were for the first time considered under the 2014 NALSA Judgment where the supreme court emphasized protecting and safeguarding the rights of the transgender person under the principles of the Indian Constitution laid down in Articles 14, 15,16 and 21.
Article 14, 15 and 16 provides the right to equality and Article 21 provides the right to freedom for every Indian citizen but transgender person were deprived of their basic right to freedom and equality.
Article 14 deals with Equality before the law or equal protection before the law within the territory of India. Article 14 falls within the expression “person” which includes the male, female and third gender within its ambit so the transgender is also entitled to legal protection under the Indian constitution in all the spheres of state activity.
Article 15 which deals with the prohibition of discrimination on the ground of religion, race, caste and sex includes the third gender under its ambit as being the citizens they have the right not to be discriminated against on the ground of their religion, caste race and sex. They have the right to protect their gender expression which is majorly reflected through their dresses, action and behavior.
Article 16 deals with equality of opportunity in the matters of public employment as this article is used to broaden the concept of sex which includes “Psychological Sex” and gender identity within its ambit. Transgender citizens of India have the right to employment and equal opportunity in matters of employment and they should not be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation.
Article 21 which deals with the protection of life and personal liberty states that no person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure of law. For ages, transgender have been deprived of their life and personal liberty. The transgender being a citizen of India should have the full right to protect their rights and personal liberty. The Supreme Court has also recognized the right to dignity by recognizing gender identity within the ambit of Article 21.
The case Navtej Singh Johar v. the Union of India deals with the Decriminalization of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code the central issue of the case was the constitutional validity of Section 377 as it stated that “voluntarily carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be with punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment which may extend to ten years with a fine.” The petition was filed stating that Section 377 of the Indian penal code violates the right to privacy, equality, freedom of expression and protection against discrimination. The petitioner in the present case filed the writ petition to seek the recognition of the right to sexuality, the right to sexual autonomy and the right to choose a sexual partner to be a part of the right which is guaranteed under Art 21 of the Constitution of India. The petitioner in the present case argued that Section 377 was violative of Article 14 as it was vague in the sense that it did not define “ carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and there was no intelligible differentia between natural and unnatural consensual sex. Section 377 was further violative of Article 15 as it discriminates based on the sex of a person’s sexual partner and it was further violative of Article 19 as it denied the right to express one’s sexual identity.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the present case held that Section 377 should be decriminalized and affirmed that homosexuality is not an aberration but a variation of sexuality. The Court further held that discrimination based on sexual orientation is violative of the right to equality and the right to privacy as sexual orientation forms an inherent part of self-identity and denying the following rights is violative of the right to life and fundamental right cannot be denied.
To Note: Acknowledgement of Information Sources is attached as embedded links. The topic deals with vedic scriptures, histories, and constitutional laws, therefore, some sections are direct copies. I acknowledge the direct copies belong to the original writers.
