Trans News, a new online magazine for India’s transgender and gender non-conforming communities, was launched on Sunday November 1 at the Transgender Resource Centre in the city of Madurai. According to The Hindu, the magazine will be available in English and Tamil and is the first of its kind in the country. It will feature news stories as well as features on prominent Indian trans people. It will also offer advertisement space to trans owned businesses and share employment opportunities.
Priya Babu, chief editor and chairperson of the Transgender Resource Centre, said the magazine would focus on the “lives, love, aspirations and celebrations” of India’s trans community and hopes it will educate people and promote tolerance. The reporting team consists of three trans women and all models featured in the first issue identified as trans or gender non-conforming.
LGBTQ+ visibility in India is increasing considerably in India; 2020 saw the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) become the first political party in the country to set up a dedicated LGBTQ+ cell. Covai Trans Kitchen in Coimbatore, a restaurant owned and staffed by trans people, also saw big success. However, there are few legal protections against discrimination and LGBTQ+ rights group Queerala – based in Kerala – has urged the Indian government to do more to safeguard the country’s queer community, including banning conversion therapy.
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