Neysara: First Indian Trans Woman Featured At The JF Kennedy Centre

Human rights activist and founder of Transgender India, Neysara has become the first trans woman from India to be featured in the Hall of Nations at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. An art illustration of Neysara is being displayed as part of the art exhibit: Vital Voices: 100 Women Using their Power to Empower. 

Neysara's illustration is displayed alongside Melinda Gates, Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Beyonce, Serena Williams and many other inspiring women.

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Talking about the achievement, Neysara told SheThePeople, "It's a huge honour for me as a transgender person for my work to be recognized and then to be featured with these great people. It empowers and motivates me to empower more people like me. These great women have been my inspiration and will continue to give me power with the amazing things they make happen in this world.  To be featured with them has been a dream come true."

On what this development means for the trans community, she says, "This feature is a loud reiteration of a very basic principle that, TRANS WOMEN  ARE WOMEN, TRANS MEN ARE MEN, GENDER NON CONFIRMING PEOPLE ARE VALID. In 2006 when I transitioned my human status, my dignity, my existence was taken away from me, my own family wanted me honour killed. And this is not just my story alone, Trans people are dehumanized and our human status is taken away by society. We have a long road ahead to emancipate transgender people in India.  Through Transgender India, I enable transgender people to get back their human status. This feature will amplify our efforts and reach."

Apart from Neysara, Akanksha Hazari technology social entrepreneur and founder of mPaani has also been featured in this art exhibition. mPaani designs and implements mobile-based loyalty programmes. Users of mPaani earn points for their mobile phone usage or expenditure on select FMCG products. Points can then be monetised and used to buy products and services.

Each painting in the series is being produced by Gayle Kabaker. Kabaker is an award-winning illustrator and writer living in Western Massachusetts. She had her first New Yorker magazine cover 'June Brides' celebrating gay marriage in 2012, and has had a total of five covers since then. Her work tends to be very feminine, exploring beauty in all forms. Vital Voices collaborated with Kabaker to create this art exhibit and companion coffee table book, celebrating 100 global women leaders who are redefining power. “2020 marks a significant year for women, with the centennial of women’s suffrage in the United States and the 25-year anniversary of the historic United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. It is a critical year for taking stock of all that’s been achieved in the global movement for gender equality,” said Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices.

“As we look to the future, and the great unfinished business that remains, we turn to 100 of the most daring and creative leaders of our time, who share their vision and solutions in Vital Voices: 100 Women Using Their Power to Empower,” she added.

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"In 2006 when I transitioned my human status, my dignity, my existence was taken away from me, my own family wanted me honour killed. And this is not just my story alone, Trans people are dehumanized and our human status is taken away by society." - Neysara

“Painting such a wide range of women of all ages, from all over the world and 'getting to know' each of these amazing, strong, brave women by reading about them and studying their faces carefully from photos in order to catch their likeness in painting, has felt like such a privilege,” said Kabaker about the exhibit. “It’s been quite an education. Sometimes uplifting and exciting, other times, really painful to realize the tragedies in these women lives that led them to become activists, "Kabaker further said, adding, "This has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on."

The exhibit debuted on International Women’s Day and will be on display till March 21, 2020. It is in conjunction with the Kennedy Center’s DIRECT CURRENT two-week celebration of contemporary culture. DIRECT CURRENT 2020 honours the milestone centennial of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Image Credit: Neysara/Facebook