These Transgenders Are Breaking Stereotypes & Inspiring Change In A Brave, New World

In April 2014, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India allotted the ¡®third gender¡¯ status to transgenders. The judgement was aimed at providing employment opportunities to the socially-backward community and help them get admission in educational institutes.

Many transgender individuals have taken up prominent positions in public and private sectors, breaking all barriers of societal conformity. Here are a few success stories of transgender people who made it big.

1. Adam Harry - Set To Become India's First Transgender Airline Pilot

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20-year-old Adam Harry is set to become the country's first transgender pilot, but that didn't come easy. He was outed and disowned by his own family. They expelled him from their home when they came to know of his transgender identity, a report in CNBCTV18 stated.

The Kerala government has now come forward to help Adam Harry and will pay for his training. The state's social justice department has approved Rs 23.34 lakh to help Harry pursue a three-year course at the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology in Thiruvananthapuram, and secure a commercial pilot's licence to fulfill his dreams.

2. Rani Kiran - India's First Transgender Five-Star-Rated Cab Driver

She refused to beg at railway stations and traffic signals, and volunteered as a driver for an ambulance during the Rath Yatra in Puri. Now, Rani Kiran has created a history and become India's first five-star-rated cab driver for Uber, a multinational transport company. It's safe to say that Rani is a trailblazer in her own league and is indeed inspiring thousands like her to not give up on their dreams.

3. Heidi Saadiya - Kerala's First Transgender Broadcast Journalist

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Heidi Saadiya created history by becoming the first transgender broadcast journalist from Kerala in September 2019, when she reported about ISRO's Moonlander 'Vikram' separating from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.

Saadiya made her debut on TV as a reporter for Kairali TV, a Malayalam news channel where she has joined as a news trainee.

4. Padmini Prakash - India's First Transgender News Anchor

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Padmini Prakash left home at 13 and attempted suicide after being outed and disowned by her family. In 2014, Padmini Prakash from Tamil Nadu became India's first transgender news anchor at a daily television news show. She made her TV debut on August 15 on Lotus TV, a Tamil news channel based in Coimbatore.

5. Anjali Ameer - The First Transsexual To Play A Lead Role In An Indian Movie

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Anjali Ameer, a transsexual, is the first one to play a female lead in an Indian movie. The bilingual (Tamil and Malayalam) movie directed by Ram is set to be released later this year. The Tamil version is called 'Peranbu', while the Malayalam one is yet to be named.

With her first movie ready to hit the screens, Anjali has got a handful of offers from Tamil and Telugu cinema too. Despite language barriers, if any good roles come around, Anjali says she would also want to try her luck in Bollywood.

6. Transgender Model Naaz Joshi Wins The Title Of Miss World Diversity 2019

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Joshi started her modelling career in 2013 after undergoing sex-change surgery and is a NIFT graduate. She is a designer by profession and speaks on gender sensitisation and raises funds through beauty pageants.

She was born as Aizya Naaz Joshi in Delhi¡¯s Malviya Nagar, and works actively for trans rights in India. During her early years, she had to struggle a lot because of her sexuality. Being unable to identify with the gender she was born with, she underwent the sex-change surgery in 2013 and got into modelling just after that.

7. Gauri Sawant - The Only Transgender Election Ambassador In The Country

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The state chief electoral officer has appointed a transgender person as an election ambassador in charge of creating awareness among voters and increasing the voting percentage in Maharashtra. Transgender activist Gauri Sawant (38) is one of the 12 'state icons', ahead of the general elections.

Born Ganesh Sawant, Gauri was raised in a conservative family in Pune. After several years of struggle, she founded her own NGO and also adopted a girl child in 2001. The child was left orphaned in 2001 after the demise of her mother - a sex-worker who died of HIV. The baby¡¯s grandmother had decided to sell her to a dealer in Sonagachi in Kolkata, the country¡¯s largest red-light district. Sawant learnt of it and stepped in to save the child by adopting her and became India's first transgender mother too.

8. '6 Pack Band' - India's First Transgender Band

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The band comprising six members - Fida Khan, Ravina Jagtap, Asha Jagtap, Chandni Suvarnakar, Komal Jagtap and Bhavika Patil - has been a game changer in India's entertainment industry.

In 2016, a musical group '6 Pack Band' made a smashing debut with its cover version of Pharrell Williams's 'Happy', and since then the band made up of the third gender has come a long way!

9. Sanjana Singh - The First Transgender To Get A Government Job In Madhya Pradesh

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Sanjana Singh, a transgender woman, has been appointed the Personal Secretary (PS) to Krishna Gopal Tiwari, Director, Department of Social Justice and Disabled Welfare (DSJDW), Madhya Pradesh government.

The 36-year-old transgender was appointed on March 1, by Tiwari. She has also been made a legal volunteer of the District Legal Authority, and a member of the Lok Adalat, where she will hear the pending cases along with the judge.

10. Dancer Narthaki Nataraj - The First Transgender To Be Awarded Padma Shri

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Narthaki Nataraj, a renowned dancer from Tamil Nadu has become the first person from the trans community to be honoured with one of the top civilian awards in India.

Born in the temple town of Madurai, Nataraj learned the art under Tanjore Shri K P Kittappa Pillai.

11. Malini Das - The First Engineer From Her Community

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Last year, Malini Das, a 23-year-old transgender, became the first in her community to complete her graduation in engineering in computer science from a private university in Jaipur. She completed her Bachelor in Technology (BTech) in Computer Science Engineering this year.

12. Swati Bidhan Baruah - The First transgender conciliator of Assam

For the first time, a known transgender activist from Assam has been appointed as a conciliator in a Lok Adalat. The position is equivalent to a member judge. The appointment of 27-year-old Swati Bidhan Baruah comes after the appointment of Joyita Mondal in West Bengal in 2017, and Vidya Kamble in Maharashtra this year. Baruah will be a member of the bench presided over by a retired district and sessions judge and will hear cases in Lok Adalat.

13. Tenzin Mariko - The Monk-Turned-Transgender Model From Tibet

Tenzing Mariko's story of coming out is one that will go down in history and inspire generations to come.

Mariko was born a male and named Tenzing Ugen. She was one among six brothers, and her family arrived in India in the 1990s to settle down in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, reported the Times of India.

Tenzin was sent to a monastery at the age of nine. When Tenzin was attracted to all things a girl would probably like, she was told by her family and friends that males were expected to behave differently. In the year 2014, she decided to change things for the better. A video of her dancing in female clothes went viral and that's when things went downhill for Tenzing. The video earned her insulting names and derogatory remarks. But five years down the line, she's Tibet's first-ever queer icon.

14. Marriage Between Transgender Woman And Man Registered In Tamil Nadu

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In October, 2018, Arun Kumar and P Srija got married at a temple in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu but they were denied a marriage receipt by the temple management. The reason? Srija is a transwoman while Kumar is a cis man.

Kumar, 22, Srija, 20, were forced to file a petition in the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court after the district registrar office refused to register their marriage.

On April 22, the Madurai bench ordered the district registrar to registered the marriage between the transgender woman and the cis man. In its ruling, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court said that marriage solemnised between a man and a transwoman is valid and authorities should register it.