Unveiling Trans- Masculinity: A Study on the Invisible Status of Indian Trans-Men

Abstract

As an aftermath of homophobic tendencies of hetero-normative societies, ‘people of the difference’ are forced to hide their identities fearing severe threat to their lives, and for centuries LGBTQIA+ people worldwide falls prey to brutal violence, injustice and homicide. Among them the plight of those who were born with the body of woman is much worse, where issues regarding their gender or sexual variations are even more silenced and dragged to invisibility.  A queer person, who has already been caged as a woman in this patriarchal society, gets doubly suppressed when attributed with a gender/ sexual variation.  Even while transgender  identities gain  visibility in society recently,  only the trans-women (male to female) persons get their voices heard, where trans-men (female to male) category remain as the  doubly marginalised ‘other’.  In a country like India, where trans-women community claim very deep roots in nation’s history, and also performs a part in tradition and rituals, trans-men community still remains invisible leaving their existence ambiguous. This study thus focuses on the invisible status of trans-masculine persons in India whose voices are unheard since they are born with a female body.  Through this research, it is intended to understand different levels of degradation of trans-men category in India and the possible reasons that support them.