TimesOfIndia.IndiaTimes.com – S Shanthi & Amrita Singh,TNN
Participants walk the ramp at a beauty competition for the third sex in New Delhi
You spot them at traffic signals, wearing makeup, brightly coloured sarees and flowers in their hair, mocking and demanding a few bucks. Their visibility has been limited to this and some social occasions where they, again, turn up to ask for money. A misunderstood community suffering from social stigma, the third sex in India has for long been kept out of the mainstream.
But times, they are a-changing. Today, you can see them hosting TV shows, acting in serials, getting driving licences, contesting elections, working in call centres and modelling for calendars. The third sex in India is slowly coming out of the closet and entering the mainstream. And, they are finally getting their long overdue support from the government and NGOs. The Tamil Nadu government in fact recently decided to grant them official status and give them ration cards.