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Photography & eunuch's....getting the HIV/AIDS message across in Mumbai

posted on Friday, July 04, 2008 11:34 AM

Posted by Allegra O'Neil, Dublin

In a first of its kind for India, Gay Pride parades was held last month in Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata (Calcutta).

Participants marched five km in Bangalore, demanding the repeal of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises homosexuality.

Along side lesbian women and gay men marched colourful bands of Hijra's. In the culture of the Indian subcontinent a hijra is usually considered a member of "the third sex" — neither man nor woman. Most are physically male or intersex, but some are female.

Hijras usually refer to themselves as female at the language level, and usually dress as women.

Although they are usually referred to in English as "eunuchs", relatively few have any genital modifications.

The American transsexual activist Anne Ogborn became an initiated Hijra in 1993. She is the first westerner to be a member of the Hijra community.


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