Electoral thoughts of Delhi's transgender voters
New Delhi: With more than 1.46 crore voters set to ink their fingers on Saturday, one of the smallest minority groups that will be voting today — "third gender" voters said that there is still a long way to go for the transgender community to be brought into the mainstream of political discourse in the country. While several NGOs have pegged the transgender population in Delhi to be around 5 lakh, Election Commission data shows that 869 "third gender" voters have registered themselves — excited to have the opportunity to exercise their democratic right
under the gender they identify with.
One voter, Asha (48) said that she cannot wait to get to the polling station and cast her vote. "See, this is such an important right all citizens of a democracy have and one must never step back from exercising it," she said.
However, when asked why so few transgender people register to vote, she said that it is mostly because they are afraid to voice their political opinion for fear of what she called "consequences".
Another voter, Chandni (29), who lives in the slums of Adarsh Nagar said that this is the first time she has been able to get a document that proves her identity and her place of residence. "It is very empowering just to receive the EPIC and I will visit the polling booths with all my friends on Saturday to cast my vote," she said.
On the other hand, Shivanya (21) said that the lack of representation of their community in the country's democratic institutions is very important. "Although I have registered to vote, I think equal representation will go a long way to assuage stigma about our community," she said.
Further, Sonali (24) said that all she is looking for in a government is security. "We don't have the security to work in jobs. We don't have security to travel and we don't even have security when we visit the police station," she said, adding that most transgenders who earn their living through sex work face regular harassment at
the hands of their customers and cops.