Trans* Community in Manipur, India

Welcome to this VERY FIRST EPISODE of the new SEASON 4 of "Queering the Perspective". The first guest is Santa Khurai (she/her) who is a Nupi Maanbi (trans woman) from Manipur, India. She belongs to the indigenous Meitei community of the region and has dedicated her life to advocacy and documentation of the realities of trans people in Manipur.

In this episode we speak about the challenges faced by the trans* community in Manipur and what makes their lives unique compared to the rest of India. Santa also talks about the Amaibi community which traditionally held the roles of (queer) spiritual leaders in the region but are now being marginalized. In the very end of the episode we talk about her movie "Nawa - The Spirit of Atey", which won the best non-fiction award at the Nagaland Film Festival 2019."

 

Santa's experience and insights show that there is no one version of transness and our awareness must extend to trans* communities worldwide. For more background information on the forgotten history of trans women in Manipur Check this blogpost on our website

 

This podcast is partially funded by Heinrich Böll Stiftung Phnom Penh, Cambodia & Heinrich Böll Stiftung New Delhi, India in collaboration with SafeSpaceBtB