The Hindu : Front Page : Transgenders get third gender status in colleges

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Sunday, May 18, 2008
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Transgenders get third gender status in colleges

Amutha Kannan

Photo: K. Ananthan

BROADER VISION: A student with an application for admission to undergraduate courses at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore on Saturday. —

COIMBATORE: Arts and science colleges in the city are as usual busy issuing applications for admission to undergraduate courses. But what is novel this year is the inclusion of ‘transgender’ as the third gender in applications, in addition to ‘male’ and ‘female’. This comes on the heels of the decision of the State Government to include them as the third gender in family cards.

This has been done on the instruction of the Directorate of Collegiate Education (DCE). Some colleges have implemented the directive by adding the third choice, while some others have chosen to ignore it consciously, for obvious reasons. A city women’s college has mentioned ‘transgender’ as the second choice in the form.

Even though all colleges come under the DCE, it looks like self-financing colleges have exercised an option. Some Government-aided colleges too have not welcomed the change. They have not made the inclusion.

Government Arts College received applications from the State Government printed with the third choice. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has included the third choice in its application under “others”. Whether the choice is applicable to engineering courses is not clear, as the Anna University applications carry only the conventional choices.

The issue anyway is not whether all colleges have included the third choice or not; the real issue is whether this change will be utilised by those concerned. The colleges which have sold the applications claim that not a single one has been issued to applicants under that category. They believe that it might be owing to lack of awareness or lack of eligibility.

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