“I’m not cisgender. I never have been,” says Trisha Gupta a city-based microbiologist. She explains that it takes a lot of nerve to stand up and declare that you don’t identify with the gender you were born with.
“So, it is particularly hurtful when people say ‘You are cisgender’ or that ‘It’s merely confusion and a wild experimental phase’. What they don’t realise that it isn’t like declaring you suddenly woke up with superpowers one day and that you’re a metahuman now,” she adds with a DC Comics reference.
She talks about how it feels when your own identity is overtly in a state of flux.
Coming out essentially means the end of being unsure. It is just another way to label yourself in a tag that society hands you.
“Whether you’re Cisgender, Transgender or identify yourself any other way- you must choose a label. It is the end of gender exploration. I think a better way to explain it to those who are cisgender is as if you were picking out an outfit,” she muses.
“Please consider for a moment that you were to wear that outfit for the rest of your life. Now this mandates that you try out many options and fabrics until you come upon the one that feels most natural to you. This is gender exploration at its basic best.”
She speaks of her own journey that took her from being Tushar to Trisha.
Not choosing gender-reassignment surgery was the toughest decision I made. People expect you to look a certain way when you identify as a female. I hope to redefine that, albeit on a small level.
“I still wear my hair short as a man would, which makes me come across as a tomboy to many. But using the women’s bathroom gets me a few weird looks at times. Having my name changed on all my documents was a cakewalk. However, getting the gender changed is a whole new ball game and still one that I’m working on,” she says of the struggles of being a non-cisgender.
“In a way, I wish more celebrities in India would come out or even publicly voice the fact that they identified as transgender. India looks upon celebrities especially those in the film fraternity with a fervent admiration. So, them doing so would definitely be a great aid to youths struggling with this across the country.
“Acceptance in the society and in the eyes of our parents wouldn’t be such a distant dream for so many of us then,” she signs off.
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#Views expressed in this column are those of the individual respondent (names changed to protect privacy) and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to this.
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