‘They kept me locked up all day. Now he is going to study in college with the help of his mother. Maybe one day suddenly there is no place to go if I have to leave home’, says Shahzad, a native of Alappuzha, who is waiting for gender reassignment surgery.
Even though it is said to be a transgender friendly state, the transmen community in Kerala is wandering without a place to stay. Kerala’s only transmen shelter home in Thiruvananthapuram has been closed for the past five months. With this, those waiting for surgery and other related treatments are left wondering what to do.
Shahzad is a BCom final year student. The family objects to Shahzad’s identity as he belongs to a traditional family. After medicines, mantras and counselling, there was no change in Shahzad and his relatives had locked him in the house for the last few days to discourage him from doing the surgery. Umma, who is only with Shahzad’s desire to complete his studies, is giving him the necessary help. But Shahzad has no place to leave the house if he is still locked in the house or mentally abused. It’s not just about one person.
The shelter home was run by an NGO under Marthomma Sabha. The deadline for running the shelter home expired in March 2022. After that, a proposal was made for renewal but no approval was received. Later, till the month of June, she was running the shelter home by paying money from her own hand. Then had to stop.
Harikrishnan, a native of Alappuzha, has been waiting for the last five months after saving money by pawning his sister’s gold for the surgery. The doctor who was to do the surgery was not there and had to wait for a few days for the doctor. But by the time the doctor returned, the shelter home was locked. Harikrishnan had planned to stay in a shelter home after the surgery. But with the closure of the shelter home, Harikrishnan, who was on the way, and three others who were with him, started living in a rented house in Thiruvananthapuram. Harikrishnan hopes that the shelter home will open soon and he will be able to get back to his normal self after the surgery. But with the shelter home not reopening, Hari is worried about what to do.
Nethik, who was the manager of the shelter home, says that he lodged a complaint with the TG cell and the minister’s office demanding the resumption of the work of the shelter home, but to no avail.
“Many people are still calling for help. But there are limits to keeping those who leave home at their own risk without legal support. I know of five people whose surgeries have been delayed because they did not have a shelter home. There are many such people. Three months of rest is required after the surgery. Many do not know what to do without a shelter home. While there are many places for transwomen, transmen don’t. “Shelter homes are needed not only in Thiruvananthapuram but also in other major cities of the state,” says Naitik.