In a country where society is still turned against the LGBTQ+ community, its members chart a difficult fight for survival, visibility and equality. However, in recent times, many lesbian and trans women have achieved exceptional heights in their respective fields, inspiring the queer community of India.
Here, we celebrate six lesbian and trans women who are challenging norms and redefining societal boundaries.
1. Rituparna Neog: Educator and Activist
Rituparna Neog is a library educator, social worker and queer rights activist from Assam. Growing up a trans woman in a village in Jorhat, she faced bullying and queerphobia at school. In an attempt to eradicate the bullying of queer people in schools, Neog dedicated her life to the cause of educating rural Assam about the LGBTQ+ community. She founded the Akam Foundation to promote gender equality and justice. She initiated a free feminist community library in Ahatguri village of Jorhat district under the 2020 project Kitape Kotha Koi. Her NGO focuses on mobilising and organising young queer activists to work towards gender and social equality in rural Assam.
In 2023, Neog founded the free intersectional feminist research space Chandraprabha Saikiani Feminist Library & Resource Centre. She currently represents the northeast region as a member of the National Council for Transgender Persons for the Government of India.
2. Vijayarajamallika: Poet, Teacher, Activist
A transgender and intersex poet, Mx. Vijayarajamallika is a Malayalam literary wavemaker and trans and intersex rights activist. She is recognised as the first transgender poet in Malayalam and the first transgender lyricist in the Malayalam film industry. Born in Muthuvara village in Kerala, Vijayarajamallika struggled with gender dysphoria from a very young age and it was not until she was 32 that she found out she was an intersex person. Her poetry is a reflection of her life as a transgender intersex person within the largely transphobic society of Kerala.
Since 2019, her poetry and poetry collections have been included in the syllabus of several universities. She is recognised as the writer of the first intersex lullaby ‘Aanalla Pennalla Kanmani Nee,’ (Neither a boy nor a girl, you are the pupil of my eye). Apart from authoring several poetry collections such as Daivathinte Makal (Daughter of God) and Aan Nadhi (Male River), she has also published her autobiography Mallikavasantham (2019) which is considered the first transgender autobiography in Malayalam literature. As a public speaker, Vijayarajamallika continues to advocate for the acceptance and assimilation of transgender and intersex people across the country.
3. Prof. Ruth Vanita: Academic, Author, Activist
Prof. Ruth Vanita is an eminent lesbian poet, writer, translator and scholar specialising in gender and sexuality studies. She received her BA, MA and doctorate in English from Delhi University and is currently a professor at the University of Montana. She co-founded India’s first feminist magazine Manushi: A Journal about Women and Society in 1978 to promote feminist writings and a feminist understanding of Indian society.
The journal also brought together feminist women from all over the country for organised protests and rallies. Her publications include A Play of Light: Selected Poems (1994), Love’s Rite: Same Marriage in India and the West (2005), Memory of Light (2020) and The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations (2023) amongst others. Her works explore same-sex unions in English and Indian literature and history.
4. Living Smile Vidya: Actress, Writer, Activist
Living Smile Vidya or Smiley is a Dalit trans woman activist, actress and writer from Chennai. She is the first Indian trans woman to have successfully changed her dead name and gender in her passport. Born to the Arunthathiyar caste associated with manual scavenging, Smiley witnessed and experienced the atrocities meted out to Dalit people, especially women. The intersection of her caste and trans identity stripped her of necessities like food in her early life. Her activist endeavours therefore aim to address casteism, patriarchy and transphobia. While enrolled in an MA course in applied linguistics at Tamil University, she explored her artistic side and acted in several college plays.
Apart from being a full-time theatre actress, she has also worked as an assistant director in Tamil and Malayalam films. She has also acted in several documentaries and films such as Karuvarai Pookkal (2011), Naked Wheels (2017) and The Hearing (2021). Smiley co-founded the independent theatre group Panmai which pioneered trans-led artistic movements in Tamil Nadu.
The 2015 film Naanu Avanalla… Avalu (I am not a he… I am a she) is based on her Tamil autobiography with the same name. Smiley now resides in Switzerland, continuing to tell her story through theatre.
5. Rituparna Borah: Activist, Peer Counsellor, Curriculum Developer
Rituparna Borah is a lesbian indigenous queer rights activist with disability from Assam. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Nazariya- A Queer Feminist Resource Group based in Delhi. Realising the dearth of queer organisations that address the issues faced by LBT (Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans) people assigned female at birth, Nazariya aims to organise and mobilise the feminist queer community.
Borah earned her M.phil in Political Science and Government from Delhi University and is currently an Advisory Board Member of the Rainbow Literature Festival. She has contributed significantly to POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace) and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and developed curricula for NCERT and IGNOU. Through her work, Borah continues to challenge heteronormativity, ableism, queerphobia, casteism and patriarchy.
6. Priya Babu: Activist and Writer
Priya Babu is a trans and human rights activist, writer and research scholar from Tamil Nadu. Forced to flee her home as a teenager, Priya travelled to Mumbai in the hope of starting her life anew. However, due to the lack of job diversity available to trans people in India, she had to resort to begging, sex work and dancing in pubs. She therefore dedicated herself to ensuring the creation of alternative jobs that function as steady sources of income for trans people. Priya runs a Trans Kitchen in Madurai for the non-profit organisation Community Action Collab which provides financial independence and security to trans people. She played an important role in the legal battle seeking voter IDs for trans people which dragged on from 2004 to 2014.
The 2014 landmark judgement legitimised the citizenship of trans persons by legally recognising them as ‘third gender,’ and ensuring their voting rights. She is currently the Regional Impact Officer of the NGO Swasti Health Catalyst, which aims to provide healthcare to marginalised and vulnerable communities. She is also the Project Manager at India’s first Transgender Resource Center (TRC) located in Madurai. The centre houses several books by trans authors, funds the education of trans students and organises community and student gatherings to foster trans inclusivity and empowerment.
The works of these trans and lesbian women icons inspire and empower the queer voices of India. While it remains a challenge to ‘come out,’ as queer in our country due to discriminatory laws and societal prejudice, these lesbian and trans women create a map for the much-needed representation of queer people and simultaneously work to dismantle multiple redundant social codifications. As they continue to break barriers, their lives inspire the future generations of the queer community to live a bold and meaningful life.
This is by no means an exhaustive or representative list. Suggestions to add to this listicle are welcome in the comments section.
