Being transgender in India: Meet Laxmi

June 10, 2014. Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a 35 year-old Transgender. Coming from a Brahmin family in Thane, she faced abuse and was even ridiculed by friends and  some in the family. “People would laugh at me. I could never understand why they were doing that. … I was sexually abused by somebody who was a part of our family. It was difficult for me to even go to school and college. People used to call me chhakka, gur and what not. It was upsetting…” Laxmi confesses she was under-confident and could hardly speak as a child but later learnt to stand up for herself.

After her new found confidence she turned her life around. She learnt Bharatnatyam and opened her own Dance academy at young age started model coordination. She said her parents were supportive of her and that she was specially attached to her father.  But even though her parents were unbiased, other relatives had conspired to kill her due to her openness regarding her sexual orientation.

Talking about her personal life she reveals she is currently dating a 22year old guy. “It’s amazing when you are aware of your femininity, and you can make men crawl and come to you. That's the beauty of being a woman.” She also said that women forget to take care of themselves; she believes “Women need to love themselves in order to feel loved.”

Laxmi is a Transgender Rights activist and currently lives in Mumbai.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people