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India's first transgender television host, Rose Venkatesan, seen here in 2007. Pre and post-operative transsexuals in the southern Indian city of Chennai are to get their own public toilets in an effort to boost recognition of the community, a report said Monday.
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Pre and post-operative transsexuals in the southern Indian city of Chennai are to get their own public toilets in an effort to boost recognition of the community, a report said yesterday.
Three toilets are to be built to cater for the sizeable transgender population as part of a pilot project that will begin after the upcoming general elections, the English-language Indian Express newspaper said.
Municipal commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni was quoted as saying that the scheme was aimed at "extending recognition to the community and mainstreaming them" and more facilities could be built if the public responded well to the idea.
But it has drawn a mixed response from the transgender community itself.
"I don't agree with this. We want to mingle with the mainstream. We don't want to be separated like this," said Aasha Bharati, president of the Aravanigal Association in Tamil Nadu state.
"Using separate toilets will open the way for discrimination. We want to be considered as females. In our hearts, we are women."
India's first transgender television host, Rose Venkatesan, was more positive. She said: "It is a big problem, because not everyone has undergone a sex change.
"This is a good idea but in the long run, I see a society where there is no difference and all use the same toilets."
There are about 30,000 transgendered people in Tamil Nadu state and there are thought to be about 500,000 across India.
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(Agencies)
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昨日有報(bào)道稱，印度南部城市欽奈計(jì)劃為將要和已經(jīng)變性的人群修建專用公廁，以提高對(duì)這一群體的認(rèn)可度。
據(jù)印度英文報(bào)《印度快報(bào)》報(bào)道，該計(jì)劃是即將開始的印度全國(guó)大選后啟動(dòng)的一個(gè)試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目之一，屆時(shí)將為該市數(shù)量可觀的變性人群建造三個(gè)專用公廁。
該報(bào)援引欽奈市政委員Rajesh Lakhoni的話說(shuō)，該計(jì)劃旨在“擴(kuò)大對(duì)該群體的認(rèn)可并使他們?nèi)谌胫髁魃鐣?huì)”，如果公眾對(duì)此反應(yīng)良好，今后還會(huì)建造更多此類設(shè)施。
但來(lái)自變性人群體自身的反應(yīng)則褒貶不一。
泰米爾納德邦變性人協(xié)會(huì)主席Aasha Bharati說(shuō)：“我不贊成這一計(jì)劃。我們想與主流人群融合，不希望被這樣分離開來(lái)。”
“使用獨(dú)立的廁所將會(huì)為歧視提供條件。我們希望被看作女性。在我們自己看來(lái)，我們就是女人。”
印度首位變性電視主持人Rose Venkatesan的看法則更為積極。她說(shuō)：“這是個(gè)重大的問(wèn)題，因?yàn)椴⒉皇敲總€(gè)人都是變性人。”
“這個(gè)想法很好，但從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來(lái)看，我希望我們的社會(huì)將消除差別，我們能與主流人群使用同樣的廁所。”
泰米爾納德邦共有約3萬(wàn)變性人，印度全國(guó)共有約50萬(wàn)人。
相關(guān)閱讀：
“變性人”懷孕惹爭(zhēng)議
（英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯）
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