Transgenders have been officially recognised as the third gender, are being empowered with job opportunities in many sectors. However, the community remains one of the marginalised sections in the society. This is true even of transsexuals, or people who transition from male to female or vice versa. The difference, however, is that they cannot change their genetics or gain reproductive abilities of the gender they change into.
In August this year, an Indian Navy sailor was dismissed from service because he underwent sex reassignment surgery to become a woman. The sailor who was posted at INS Eksila base of the Navy in Visakhapatnam, grew out her hair while in service. The seaman, who is from the engineering branch of the Navy, told authorities that he underwent the surgery because he was feeling "like a woman trapped in a man's body". As per rules in the Navy, a woman cannot serve as a seafarer as the force does not allow women to serve in ranks below the officer cadre.
On October 10, when she was fully discharged from her duties, the former sailor, Manish Kumar Giri who now goes by the name Sabi, said that she will move Supreme Court for her rights. After she underwent the sex change operation in August, she was given lighter responsibilities.
Sabi's is however not the first such case to come into the public eye. Ajay Mafatlal of the Yogindra Mafatlal group was one of the earliest cases of sex change in the country. Born Aparna Mafatlal, he was married to a family friend, Sudeep Parikh in 1979. They then got mutually divorced in 1984. She underwent sex change operation in 2005 to become Ajay Mafatlal. This eventually created problems in the family as before Aparna became a man, her brother Atulya was the only son to have a claim on the late Yogindra Mafatlal's trust. Ajay, Atulya and Atulya's estranged wife Sheetal along with their mother became embroiled in a property dispute. This was temporarily solved when the mother, Madhuri, allowed partitioning of the 10,000 sqft Mafatlal mansion, but worsened when the mother declared that Ajay was her only son.
Television personality and former Olympic medal-winning decathlete, Bruce Jenner, underwent sex change in 2015 to become a transwoman and rechristened herself as Caitlyn Jenner. This transition did not cause any disputes, but was widely covered as Caitlyn was formerly the husband of Kris Jenner, who along with her children was part of a reality television channel, Keeping up with the Kardashians.
Born a man, television personality and actor Bobby Darling always identified himself as a woman. In 2010, Bobby underwent sex change operation to become a woman. In 2015, she got married to her boyfriend, Ramneek Sharma and in 2016, rechristened herself as Pakhi Sharma. In September 2017, Sharma accused her husband of demanding dowry and unnatural sex. Her husband however maintains that Sharma's claims are false and she is doing it only for publicity.
Other celebrities who underwent sex change operation include Gaurav Arora, a model who chose to become a woman; actor Alexis Arquette who was born Robert Arquette, but transitioned to a woman in 2006. Cher and Sonny Bono's daughter Chastity Bono underwent the procedure to become a man, and called himself Chaz Bono in 2010.
Another interesting story is that of Chelsea Manning who was born as Bradley Edward Manning. Bradley, who as a former US Army soldier, was charged with espionage in 2013. Manning leaked confidential information including videos of July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike, and the 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan to Wikileaks. Manning who is serving a 35-year sentence at the Army's prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, underwent hormone therapy while in prison to become a transwoman.
World over transexuals have been undergoing surgery and hormone therapy to change from a male to female and vice-versa. Though in some cases, the transition has been welcomed, some others have been shunned from the society.
Though in terms of accepting those who have undergone sex change operation India has come a long way, there have to be specific policies and rules drafted so that the community isn't systematically excluded.
The Navy, as of now has no rules to handle such cases. Whether or not a rule to this effect will be drafted, remains to be seen.
