'I am bestowed with a man's strength and a woman's compassion', says Tamil Nadu's first Transgender candidate

Life has never been easy for 53-year old Ramanujam (alias) Radha, but she has chosen a tougher path for herself, a path that nobody from her community in Tamil Nadu has taken. She is the first transgender candidate from Tamil Nadu to be contesting in the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls. She is contesting as an independent and has been allotted the Computer Mouse symbol.

We caught up with her on her campaign trail, as she traversed the busy lanes of T.Nagar, the commercial hub that falls under the South Chennai Parliamentary constituency. She walks along with her friend Nila, casually chatting with passersby and curious onlookers and urging them to vote for a member of the third gender, that has been neglected and ignored by society.

Speaking fluently in English, Radha recalls that she is a proud post-graduate, with a BA in Economics and MA in English. However, her nomination papers mention only 12th standard as her qualification, as her college certificates were damaged during the 2015 Chennai Floods. Radha laments that despite their educational qualification, jobs are hard to find for atrans person. She makes ends meet by working asa cook and housemaid and is cheerful about her culinary skills.

"I can cook a variety of North Indian and South Indian dishes, but continental would be a little difficult as I haven’t had any formal training", she says with a smile. Speaking of her decision to take the political plunge, she says that the rampant sexual violence against women and children, society remaining passive about it is what disturbs her the most. As a transgender, I will fight to ensure health penalty for those behind these crimes.

The other issues that she highlights are the water woes in several areas across her constituency, unchecked disposal of garbage and the lack of adequate toilet facilities outside the famous Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore. While the landmark Supreme Court verdict to strike down Section 377 was a boon to the LGBTQ community, she says that they wish to actively campaign for marriage rights, property rights, adoption etc.

Expressing enthusiasm about her campaign, she says, "there has been a very good response from the public and the fishermen community embraced me and performed aarti, but there are few exceptions where people walk away due to apprehension. I am happy that transgender people are being acknowledged and are able to contribute to society by taking up jobs in the fields of medicine, law, police. So why not politics then?"

Radha will be up against the AIADMK’s incumbent MP J Jayavardhan and DMK’s Thamizhachi Thangapandian and Makkal Needhi Maiam’s Rangarajan and several other candidates from small parties, independents. Referring to the electoral battle that lay ahead, she confidently says, "I am bestowed with a man’s strength and woman’s compassion".