Third gender to run taxi service, walk ramps!

After unveiling the first Transgender Policy in the country with an aim to end societal stigma towards the Transgender community, the Kerala government is now getting ready to launch ‘Gender Taxi’, owned and operated by transgenders. 

The state-run Gender Park, under the Department of Social Justice, has drawn up a programme to roll out G-Taxi on the model of its successful all-women cab network She-Taxi. If everything goes as planned, the first fleet of G-Taxi cabs will be rolled out in the state this March. 

“The business model of G-Taxi is being prepared in a manner in which more government funds can be utilised for it,” Gender Park CEO Dr PTM Sunish said. 

Nawaz, a transgender who lives in Ernakulam, said he was happy about programme, but had concerns about the people’s attitude towards them as G-Taxi drivers. “The mainstream society still has very little knowledge about our life and problems. So, I have some apprehensions about society’s response towards us when we come in the garb of drivers,” he said. 

New Delhi: Meanwhile, Rudrani Chettri, a Delhi-based transgender activist and head of Mitr Trust, is set to open modelling agency for transgenders in the capital.

Chettri says the idea behind opening up a model agency comes from the feeling of ‘frustration’ which she and other transgenders had to face. “The idea came out of a feeling of frustration as I saw many young beautiful transgenders who are made to feel ugly from a young age. I was one of them,” says Chettri. 

“I think everybody should have the right to experience life to the fullest, facing the same challenges and struggles like everybody else,” said eminent fashion stylist and photographer, Rishi Raj.