A picture of turmoil for transgenders

thehindu.com – Pushpa Achanta

They beg at traffic junctions, bus-stops and other public spaces. And seem to dress ‘contradictory’ to their apparent sex. But why are hijras and transgenders like that? And how do their families, society and the state respond?

Bangalore-based filmmaker Gopal Menon attempts to answer these questions through Let the Butterflies Fly, a poignant and insightful Kannada film (with English subtitles) documenting how the Bangalore police and the medical establishment harass hijras.