Social inclusion of trans community in Tamil Nadu: a way to inclusive development

Transgender people are individuals of any age or sex whose appearance, personal characteristics or behaviours differ from stereotypes about how men and women are supposed to be. Transgender community has been part of Indian society since ancient times. Despite having a strong historical background, even today, they are excluded from mainstream society and discriminated in all part of their life. As per the 2011 census, the population of Transgender in India is approximately 4.88 lakhs. In 2014, Supreme court of India, legally declared them as ‘third gender’ in the NALSA Judgement. To empower the transgender community, policies and programmes were formulated by both the centre and state government. Tamil Nadu has been a pioneering state in transgender welfare in India, becoming the first to establish a Transgender Welfare Board in 2008. More recently, the state government has introduced a comprehensive transgender policy that outlines a strategic roadmap for the next five years, aiming to ensure inclusion and equality for the transgender community. Despite these progressive steps, transgender individuals in Tamil Nadu continue to face significant challenges, particularly in accessing education, securing legal identity, obtaining stable employment, receiving adequate healthcare, and achieving social acceptance. In this context, this research article reviews the existing literature on the socio-economic issues faced by the transgender community and critically evaluates the effectiveness of state policies and programmes. It also assesses the extent to which these initiatives have contributed to tangible improvements in the lives of transgender persons in Tamil Nadu.