Personal illustration about my first Pride March
Hijras constitute the culturally recognized and institutionalized third gender community of South Asia. They occupy a uniquely precarious socio-political position in the post-colonial context; hence, their history and lived experiences can not be conceptualized within western originating discourse on transgender communities. Since sex work is reserved for hijras who have undergone nirvanum (i.e. traditional castration), extreme stigmatization and marginalization leaves them with few means of subsistence apart from begging.
