Madurai
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the city, Trans Kitchen, a hotel run by a group of transgender people, was inaugurated near Goripalayam junction on Friday morning.
Swasti, an organisation that has been working towards the upliftment of marginalised people across 20 districts in the State, funded for the initiative, in association with organisations like Arghyam, Virutti and Sri Lakshmi Pengal Munnetra Sangam.
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Priya Babu, Regional Programme Manager at Swasti and transgender herself, believes that the hotel will play a great role in removing the stigma surrounding trans people, apart from providing them with a reliable form of employment.
She says, “There is no better way to connect with a human than serving them with tasty food. In that way, this hotel will pave way for trans people to form connections with the public who are generally hesitant to communicate with us.”
The hotel which sells food at a nominal price is also planning to provide free hot water to the public and free milk to the quantity of 100 ml to mothers of infants who reach out to them. “We want to show the society that we are socially responsible too,” adds Priya.
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Headed by T. Jayachitra, the hotel has 11 other trans persons as employees who will be working on a shift basis. Jayachitra says that people in the surrounding have already responded positively to their hotel.
SELCO Foundation has extended its helping hand to the hotel by ensuring that 80% of the power consumption inside is done using solar power. They had installed a wet grinder, freezers, a mixie, juicers, lights and fans that can function using solar power. The restaurant was inaugurated in the presence of Collector S. Aneesh Sekhar on Friday morning.