INTRODUCTION
Dr. Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju (born 17 June 1997) is an Indian LGBTQ(LGBT is an initialism that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender". It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. )+ advocate, Internship medical intern, actress, and content creator. Transgender activist, surgeon in training and Instagram influencer: at just 24 She is widely known for discussing transgender rights, political issues, feminism and intersectionality on Instagram, where she has a large following. She was one of the first openly transgender Indian content creators in the Indian entertainment industry. She is also Karnataka's first openly transgender doctor. Her work often includes her experiences navigating through a conservative and largely transphobic society and profession. She rose to prominence over 2018 and 2019 as she started sharing her journey of medical, legal and social transition on Instagram and Youtube. Due to her gender identity and political views, she has often been the subject of trolling and abuse.
THEME
The transgendered hijra community
has evolved to form a unique subculture within Indian society, existing
alongside the ubiquitous (everywhere) heterosexual (sexually attracted to a
person of the opposite sex) family.
Our aim was to portray a transgender
character as a normal person, who has lived life with dignity, and is capable
of having functional
After two decades of feeling like she
lived in the wrong body, Trinetra decided to turn her social, legal and
biological identity to match what her mind was telling her. we feel that our
society will soon stop judging people on their sexuality.
EXPLANATION DR. TRINETRA HALDAR GUMMARAJU JOURNEY
Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju who was born
as Angad Gummaraju in Bengaluru underwent gender confirmation surgery later in
life. Though her family celebrated the day she was born as the firstborn boy
child, she never thought of herself as a boy. From the age of four, Trinetra
Haldar Gummaraj was bullied and shamed every time she tried on her mother's
sarees or high heels She loved putting on make-up and walked around the house or
did anything deemed feminine. "I was always the woman I am," she
said.
During her childhood, everyone found the
act cute but when they saw that the “phase” continued for longer than usual
they hid those items from her, telling her she was too old for them.
Trinetra had a baby brother when she was
5-years-old but she couldn’t process the thought of being called an elder
brother and felt burdened with the conditioned upbringing. She grew up into an
unresolved teenager and was scared to express herself. Trinetra Haldar
Gummaraju tried out masculine activities such as sports for her dad, but hated
it from her heart. Her school life didn’t make things any easier for her. She
faced bullying and couldn’t digest the idea of being a gay person. It took a
toll on her. At times when she felt vulnerable, she was taught to be tough and
wasn’t allowed to cry.
When Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju realized
she liked men, she understood she was a gay man. But she didn’t like the idea
that she must be a man. These led to frustration, and she started self-harming
and prayed to be like others, to be normal. It makes me feel so terrible to
know how our society corners some people who don’t meet their expectations.
Making it Through the Struggles and
Standing Up for Herself
While Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju was
watching a show that had a gay protagonist, she blurted out that she was gay
but her parents didn’t take it well and were in denial. And then one fine day
she came out to the world, and that added fuel to the fire. Her teachers made
her read aloud in class so that others could mock her voice. She realized she
needs to stop all those things overpowering her and started channeling all her
energy towards her studies. Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju found out that she wanted
to be a doctor, as she wanted to use her knowledge and degree in the operating
room.
She grew up hating her body and only
felt comfortable when she wore crop tops and applied makeup. Despite wanting to
look a particular way, she didn’t want to receive judgmental glances. Soon when
she was 20, she told herself that she’s a woman and at that moment she felt
free and relaxed. She said that she felt as free as a little kid who knew that
she was a girl but was made to believe that she was a boy.
"My parents saw me as a deficient male," said Gummaraju, who is interning at KMC Manipal in Karnataka,(Karnataka Medical Council) one of India's top teaching hospitals.
Older boys molested (to touch or attack someone in a sexual way against their wishes) her, schoolteachers
humiliated (to feel ashamed or stupid) her and a psychiatrist advised her family to expose her to
"more masculine influences".
No one considered the possibility that
she was transgender. Especially not Gummaraju.
"I didn't even let myself question
my gender identity because transgender people have such a negative image in
this country -- they are seen as scary, abusive (using rude language to insult somebody,) dangerous."
Despite the fact that the vast majority
of Indians worship Hindu gods who routinely shape-shift from male to female,
the transgender community is largely exiled (forced to leave one's country or home.) to the margins of society, with
many forced to take up begging or sex work.
Trinetra never identified as a boy.
“When you don’t fit into the defined norms of gender and sexuality, people
consider you a freak, (a person who has a very strong interest in something) and for me for the longest time that led to a lot of
self-hatred,” (feeling very strong dislike toward yourself) she says. “It was when I discovered the internet and that there
are people like me who are uncomfortable with the gender and identities they’re
assigned that I realised that I might not actually be a boy and that it’s
completely okay,” says Dr Gummaraju, who went through her gender
affirmation(a statement or proposition that is declared to be true.) surgery at 21.
A medical student, she documented the journey of the medical and legal
ensures they are LGBTQIA+ advocates. “I make sure that everything I endorse (to say publicly that you give official support) fits my messaging and moral values,” she says.
DR. TRINETRA’S ONLINE JOURNEY
By the time Gummaraju was a teenager,
her self-hatred -- reinforced by social mores (traditional customs) -- had deepened to such a degree
that she had begun to self-harm.
Hope arrived in the form of admission to
medical school, an accomplishment that evoked a grudging (given or done although you do not want to) respect even from
those who had shunned (to avoid somebody/something; to keep away from somebody) her.
There, she found a more supportive
community including a therapist who gently urged her to experiment with gender
expression.
Then I started my journey in social
media "an online space where I could be myself".
That is Instagram and YouTube, becoming
the first Indian to do so. The activist and artist is also one of Karnataka’s
first openly transgender doctor and one of the first openly
transgender Indian content creators. Anchored at the crossroads of art and
advocacy, Gummaraju’s Instagram account helps people understand the gravity of
topics like gender, sexuality, queerphobia, bullying, mental health, and
feminism. She has 226K followers on Instagram and 14K subscribers on her
YouTube channel ‘The Trinetra Method’. Today, she has over 220,000 followers,
but her early posts sparked a backlash from conservative professors and some
fellow students.
She persisted, eventually coming out as
transgender, first to her now-supportive family, and then on Facebook to
hundreds of people.
“Getting into content creation was never
planned, I used the platform to process my emotions, and it was an escape from
reality that turned into so much more than that,” she says.
Through her content, she guides trans people,
shares insecurities, worries, and missteps, and also calls out trolls, “making
people see that she is a three-dimensional human being behind our
two-dimensional phone screens, and that makes her followers connect with her”,
says Gazal Dhaliwal, screenwriter and LGBTQIA+( Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual people collectively. Lesbian: A woman
who has a significant attraction, primarily to members of the same gender, or
who identifies as a member of the lesbian community) activist. “She takes pride
in who she is. In a world that shames you, abuses you, mocks you for being
trans, standing up with your head held high takes rare strength. She owns her
journey and shares it with generosity, courage and vulnerability. That
combination makes her unique.”
Her content creation has brought brands to her doorstep, but Gummaraju
The transition began with a new name,
Trinetra -- after a fierce Hindu goddess -- followed by hormone replacement
therapy in 2018 and surgery in February 2019.
It was a euphoric time, she recalled,
even as she was advised bed rest for a month to recover.
"To see your body change shape --
it's like a fog is being lifted", she said.
"I could recognise myself in the
mirror."
Not to fear-mongering
Some of the side effects were unforeseen
-- and troubling.
"It is so unfortunate that one of
the things that made me realise I was now a woman... was catcalling and being
groped", she said.
She also encountered rape threats when
she posted glamorous selfies, something which cisgender women -- those whose
gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth -- could relate to.
"I have experienced a lot of common
ground with cisgender women," she said.
But the increasingly fractious debate
over transgender rights threatens to make her community's existence even more
precarious, she said, with some cisgender feminists in the West
calling for women-only spaces to be restricted to those who are biologically
female.
After hospital security forced her to
exit a women's bathroom in 2017, Gummaraju developed a urinary tract infection
because she abstained from drinking water for hours to avoid using a public
toilet again.
"Some women don't seem to
understand that we are not cisgender men. We are not the ones who are a threat
to you," she said.
"The fear-mongering has to
stop."
Despite the many challenges faced by the
community, she hopes her rising profile will help younger transgender people
realise that "life does get better".
"As doctors, we know human beings
are resilient by default. Have faith in your ability to heal."
She faced her share of difficulties,
judgments from society, but she made it to the top. And that’s the reason she’s
an inspiration to us.
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